CORRESPONDENCE  OF 
THOMAS  BARCLAY 


SELECTIONS  FROM 

THE 

CORRESPONDENCE 

OF 

THOMAS     BARCLAY 

FORMERLY  BRITISH  CONSUL-GENERAL  AT  NEW  YORK 


EDITED  BY 


GEORGE   LOCKHART   RIVES,  M.A. 

LATE    ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF    STATE 
OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 
1894 


Copyright,  1894,  by  GEORGE  LOCKHART  RIVES. 


All  rights  reserved. 


PEEFATOEY  NOTE 

Of  the  voluminous  correspondence  of  Thomas  Barclay 
only  fragments  now  exist.  He  keptfeiv  of  the  letters  ad 
dressed  to  him,  and  none  of  a  purely  familiar  or  domestic 
kind.  Copies,  or  sometimes  rough  drafts,  of  the  letters  he 
wrote  were  entered  in  letter-boohs,  ~but  none  of  his  papers 
exist  of  a  date  earlier  than  1790,  and  there  are  no  letter- 
looks  later  than  1818.  Nevertheless,  fragmentary  as  the 
collection  generally  is,  the  records  of  many  of  his  public 
services  are  tolerably  complete ;  and  it  has  seemed  to  one 
of  his  descendants  that  the  printing  of  portions  of  his 
correspondence  would  not  only  afford  some  memorial  of  a 
long  and  honorable  career,  but  might  also  throw  new  light 
iipon  certain  historical  events. 

New-York,  Oct.  15,  1894. 


39G845 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  I 


EARLIER  YEARS 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  TRUE  RIVER  ST.  CROIX 43 

CHAPTER  III 
CONSUL-GENERAL,  1799-1802 95 

CHAPTER  IV 
CONSUL-GENERAL,  1803-1804 145 

CHAPTER  V 
CONSUL-GENERAL,  1804-1806 203 

CHAPTER  VI 
CONSUL-GENERAL,  1807-1812 252 

CHAPTER  VII 
AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS 312 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY 353 

CHAPTER  IX 
LAST  DAYS 405 


CORRESPONDENCE 

OF 

THOMAS  BARCLAY 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLIER  YEARS 

THOMAS  BARCLAY  was  born  in  the  city  of  New- York 
on  October  12,  1753.  He  was  an  active  and  zeal 
ous  Loyalist  during  the  Revolution,  and  at  its  close 
sought  refuge  in  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  In 
1799  he  returned  to  New- York  as  British  Consul-Gen- 
eral;  and  here,  with  brief  interruptions,  he  resided 
until  his  death  on  April  21,  1830.  Nearly  fifty  years 
of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  public  service  of  Great 
Britain,  and  yet  he  was  by  descent  and  marriage,  as 
well  as  by  birth  and  residence,  essentially  an  American, 
and  not  an  Englishman.  He  was  indeed  a  very  typical 
New-Yorker,  of  the  pre-Revolutionary  and  loyal  sort ; 
closely  allied  to  the  English  Church  and  the  Royal  Grov- 
ernment,  but  tracing  his  descent  back  through  four  gen 
erations  to  some  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  colonies. 

JOHN  BARCLAY,  the  first  of  the  name  in  America,  was 
a  member  of  an  ancient  Scottish  family,  and  settled 
about  1683  in  New  Jersey,  whither  he  had  been  di 
rected  through  the  influence  of  his  brother  Robert,  the 
well-known  author  of  the  "Apology  for  the  People 


2          CORRESPONDED  QE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

called  Quakers."  It  came  about  thus:  the  Duke  of 
York,  dividing  up  the  great  province  granted  him  by 
his  brother,  had  conveyed  what  is  now  New  Jersey  to 
Sir  George  Carteret  and  Lord  Berkeley,  whose  shares 
were  subsequently  partitioned,  East  Jersey  being  set 
apart  to  Carteret.  Carteret  dying,  East  Jersey  was  sold 
to  a  company  of  twelve  Quakers,  who  subsequently  as 
sociated  with  themselves  twelve  other  persons,  mostly 
Scotch;  and  to  these  twenty-four  the  Duke  of  York, 
on  March  13,  1683,  made  a  new  confirmatory  grant. 
Among  the  twenty-four  proprietors  were  the  Earl  of 
Perth,  William  Penn,  and  Robert  Barclay.  Barclay 
was  appointed  by  the  proprietors  to  be  Governor  of 
East  Jersey ;  but  he  never  visited  the  colony,  adminis 
tering  its  affairs  in  England.  He  sent  out  instead  his 
younger  brothers  David  and  John.  David  came  over 
in  1684,  returned  again  to  Scotland,  and  sailing  from 
Aberdeen  the  end  of  August,  1685,  died  at  sea.  John 
had  come  over  earlier,  for  he  was  back  in  London  by 
the  end  of  December,  1683,  bringing  letters  from  East 
Jersey.  One  may  guess  that  he  was  then  about  twenty- 
five  years  old,  for  his  parents  were  married  on  January 
26,  1648,  and  his  mother  died  in  1663,  leaving  five  chil 
dren,  of  whom  John  appears  to  have  been  the  youngest.1 
By  the  first  of  August,  1684,  John  Barclay  was  back 
once  more  in  New  Jersey,  living  at  Elizabethtown, 
whence  he  removed  to  Plain  field,  and  finally  settled  at 
Perth  Amboy.2  About  1685  he  married  a  lady  whose 
name  alone  is  sufficient  evidence  of  her  descent.  She 
was  Cornelia  Van  Schaick 3 —  a  member,  it  would  seem, 
of  the  extensive  Van  Schaick  family  of  Albany. 

1  Gen.  Acct.  of  the   Barclays  of    Whitehead's  Con.  to  Hist,  of  Perth 
TJrie.    London,  1812.  Amboy,  p.  42. 

2N.  J.  Arch.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  446,  459;        3Holgate's  Amer.  Gen.,  p.  129. 


EARLIER  YEARS  3 

In  April,  1692,  John  Barclay  was  appointed  surveyor- 
general  of  East  Jersey,  and  later  on  became  deputy 
secretary  and  register,  clerk  of  the  council,  clerk  of 
the  courts,  and  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly.1 
He  was  not  in  favor  during  Lord  Cornbury's  turbulent 
administration ;  and  being  in  fact  in  violent  opposition, 
was  denounced  in  1702  as  one  "  of  the  Scotch  and 
Quaker  fractions  concerned  sundry  years  in  ye  divisions, 
&  incendiary  Parties,  that  has  brought  these  Provinces 
into  such  Confusion  of  Grovernm*,  Injustice  to  ye  Pro 
prietors,  and  aversion  to  ye  Planters  and  Inhabitants." 2 
In  later  years,  and  with  a  change  of  administration,  he 
came  to  be  on  better  terms  with  the  colonial  authori 
ties  ;  and  he  died  in  the  spring  of  1731,  fully  seventy 
years  of  age,  generally  respected  and  with  the  character 
of  a  good  neighbor  and  a  useful  citizen.3 

As  we  have  seen,  John  Barclay  was  described  as  a 
Quaker  in  1702.  In  point  of  fact  he  had  by  that  time 
come  over  to  the  Church  of  England,  being  chiefly  in 
duced  to  that  step  by  the  influence  of  a  very  remark 
able  man — George  Keith — who  had  himself  been  bred 
a  Quaker,  but  had  been  united  with  the  English  Church, 
and,  having  taken  orders,  had  been  sent  out  to  America 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Grospel.  In 
1718  John  Barclay  was  named  as  one  of  the  church 
wardens  in  the  charter  granted  for  St.  Peter's  Church 
in  Perth  Amboy,  and  he  contributed  liberally  toward 
the  erection  of  the  church  edifice.4 

Before  the  establishment  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  ser- 

IN.  J.  Arch.,  Vol.  II,  p.  81 ;  Vol.  3  Smith's  Hist,  of  N.  J.,  p.  424. 

XIII,  pp.  200,  227,  262,  etc. ;  White-  ^Whitehead's  Con.  to  Hist.  Perth 

head's  Con.  to  Hist,  of  Perth  Am-  Amboy,  pp.  21, 211, 218;  Churchman's 

boy,  p.  42.  Mag.,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  356;  Keith's  Jour., 

2  N.  J.  Arch.,Vol.  II,  p.  487.  in  Prot.  Epis.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  I. 


4  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

vices  were  occasionally  held  at  Perth  Amboy  by  an 
English  clergyman,  who  was  expected  to  minister  to  the 
whole  region  from  Elizabethtown  to  Freehold.  The  Rev. 
Thorowgood  Moore  had  attempted  for  a  while  to  per 
form  that  somewhat  extensive  duty;  but  in  August, 
1707,  his  plain-speaking  having  offended  drunken  Lord 
Cornbury,  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  but  escaped 
thence  to  Boston,  and  sailing  for  England,  was  lost  at 
sea.  Now  this  Mr.  Moore,  before  coming  to  Perth  Am 
boy,  had  been  a  missionary  at  Albany  and  among  the 
Indians,  and  we  may  well  suppose  that  he  did  not  fail, 
when  he  found  a  likely  young  man  with  a  vocation  for 
the  ministry,  to  urge  the  noble  work  that  might  be  done 
on  the  wild  frontier  about  the  head  waters  of  the  Hud 
son  River.  Whether  Mr.  Moore  did,  indeed,  find  such 
a  young  man  at  Perth  Amboy,  and  whether  he  did  in 
fluence  the  course  of  his  career,  must  remain  a  conjec 
ture  ;  but  certain  it  is  that  THOMAS  BARCLAY,  a  son  of 
John  Barclay,  went  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  to 
England,  took  orders,  and  was  in  due  time  sent,  in  his 
turn,  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Grospel, 
as  missionary  at  Albany  and  among  the  Indians.  He 
seems  to  have  reached  Albany  in  1707,  or  1708,  and 
there  we  find  him  zealously  laboring  in  September, 
1710. !  He  had  been  there  for  some  months,  catechiz 
ing  the  youth,  teaching  Dutch  children  to  make  their 
responses  in  the  English  tongue,  marrying  and  baptiz 
ing  in  the  absence  of  a  Dutch  minister,  performing  the 
Church  of  England  services  both  in  English  and  Dutch, 
shunning  all  controversies,  and  preaching  once  a  month 
at  Schenectady — "a  village  situated  upon  a  pleasant 
river" — where  there  were  about  sixteen  English  and 

l  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  540. 
See,  also,  Hill's  Hist,  of  the  Church  in  Burlington,  N.  J.,  pp.  64-90. 


EARLIER  YEARS  5 

one  hundred  Dutch  families;  in  short,  a  very  busy, 
earnest,  sensible  young  man.  "  More  of  the  Dutch,"  he 
writes,  "  would  accept  my  ministry  but  that  Mr.  De  Bois, 
minister  of  the  Dutch  Congregation  of  New- York,  comes 
sometimes  to  Albany.  He  is  a  hot  man,  and  an  enemy 
to  our  Church,  but  a  friend  to  his  purse,  for  he  has 
large  contributions  from  this  place."  There  was  at 
that  time  no  minister  of  any  church  north  of  New- 
York  but  Mr.  Barclay,  for  the  former  Dutch  ministers 
at  Albany  and  Schenectady  had  died  or  moved  away. 
The  Dutch  had  converted  some  thirty  Indians,  who 
were  communicants,  "but  so  ignorant  and  scandalous 
that  they  can  scarce  be  reputed  Christians."  The  neigh 
boring  Indians  were  well  disposed  to  receive  missiona 
ries,  but — writes  Mr.  Barclay — "  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you, 
sir,  that  I  am  afraid  the  missionaries  that  are  coming 
over  will  find  hard  work  of  it,  and  if  the  commander  of 
that  fort  [  Fort  Hunter,  at  the  lower  Mohawk  castle]  be 
not  a  person  of  singular  piety  and  virtue,  all  their  endea 
vors  will  be  ineffectual;  these,  here,  that  trade  with  them, 
are  loth  that  any  religion  get  any  footing  among  them ; 
besides,  these  savages  are  so  given  to  drinking  of  that 
nasty  liquor  rum,  that  they  are  lost  to  all  that  is  good." 
In  1714  the  Governor  granted  a  patent  for  building 
an  English  church  in  Albany,  named,  like  the  church 
at  Perth  Amboy,  St.  Peter's,  and  Thomas  Barclay  was 
appointed  its  first  rector1 — the  services  having  thereto 
fore  been  held  in  the  fort — and  in  Albany  the  remain 
der  of  his  life  was  passed.  We  read,  however,  that  he 
was  for  a  short  time  in  New- York,  and  assisted  in  the 
services  of  Trinity  Church. 2  He  died  at  Albany  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1722. 

i  Doe.  Bel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  88. 
2  Berrian's  Hist.  Sketch  of  Trinity  Church,  p.  34. 

1A 


6  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Soon  after  settling  in  Albany  he  married  Anna 
Dorothea  Draeyer,  or  Drauyer,  daughter  of  Andries 
Draeyer  and  G-erritje,  his  wife — who  was,  in  turn,  a 
daughter  of  Groosen  Grerritse  Van  Schaick,  of  Albany,1 
and  probably  a  relative  of  John  Barclay's  wife.  Of 
this  marriage  there  were  born  three  sons — Thomas, 
Anthony,  and  Henry.  Thomas  died  unmarried.  An 
thony  married  Helena  Roosevelt,  became  a  merchant 
near  New- York,  and  left  many  descendants,  with  whom, 
however,  we  have  here  no  immediate  concern. 

HENKY  BAKCLAY  was  born  at  Albany,  probably  about 
1712,  was  entered  at  Yale  College,  and  graduated  at 
the  head  of  his  class  in  1734.  Returning  to  Albany, 
he  was  appointed,  in  1735,  catechist  to  the  Mohawk  In 
dians,  in  whom  he  seems  at  all  times  to  have  taken  the 
liveliest  interest.  In  later  years  he  made  some  prog 
ress  toward  the  translation  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  into  the  Indian  language. 2  With  youthful  en 
thusiasm,  he  took  a  far  more  hopeful  view  of  the  possi 
bility  of  effecting  permanent  results  than  his  father  had 
done.  He  believed  the  prospect  of  converting  the  In 
dians  was  "  truly  great,"  and  he  reported  that  he  found 
them  desirous  of  instruction.  In  1737  he  was  recom 
mended  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos 
pel  as  a  person  of  good  morals  and  learning,  who  had 
many  years  applied  himself  with  great  diligence  to 
learn  the  Indian  language,  and  had  made  such  progress 
as  actually  to  instruct  and  catechize  them  in  the  Mo 
hawk  tongue.  The  society  sent  for  him  to  England, 
and  there,  at  the  end  of  1737,  or  beginning  of  1738,  he 

1  Holgate's  Amer.  Gen.,  p.  145. 

2  Doe.  Rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  815-817 ;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y., 
Vol.  IV,  pp.  206-217;  Dexter'sYale  Biog.  Eec.,  p.  503. 


EARLIER  YEARS  7 

was  ordained.1  Returning  to  Albany,  he  resumed  his 
pious  labors  among  the  Indians,  and  succeeded  to  his 
father's  cure  as  rector  of  St.  Peter's.  We  find  him  writ 
ing  on  November  10, 1738,  still  hopeful,  that  there  grew 
a  daily  reformation  among  the  Mohawks,  and  an  in 
crease  of  virtue  proportionable  to  their  knowledge. 

These  rosy  views  and  cheerful  labors  were  destined 
to  be  soon  ended.  On  him,  too,  fell  the  evils  caused  by 
the  wickedness  of  Frederick  of  Prussia ;  and  when  the 
whole  world  sprang  to  arms  at  Frederick's  signal,  and 
red  men  scalped  each  other  by  the  great  lakes  of  North 
America,  that  Frederick  might  rob  a  neighbor  whom 
he  had  promised  to  defend,  the  quiet  missionary  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mohawk  found  that  his  dreams  of  Indian 
reformation  and  virtue  were  over.  The  Indians  of  the 
Six  Nations  had  been  temporarily  quieted  by  the  treaty 
held  by  Governor  Clinton  at  Albany  in  the  early  sum 
mer  of  1744 ;  but  by  1745  northern  New- York  was 
aflame,  and  the  French  and  Indians  ravaged  the  coun 
try  as  far  south  as  Saratoga.  In  1746  Albany  had  be 
come  the  headquarters  of  a  considerable  army,  and  the 
Mohawks  left  their  schools  to  enlist  under  the  gentle 
influences  of  Sir  William  Johnson. 

Such  were  the  depressing  surroundings  at  Albany 
when,  on  July  11,  1746,  the  Rev.  William  Vesey — for 
fifty  years  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church  in  New- York — 
finished  his  earthly  course.  "  He  had,"  wrote  the  ves 
try,  "  the  inward  pleasure  of  leaving  in  peace  and  good 
order  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  Churches  in  Amer- 

1  The  Bishop  of  London,  writing  have  had  with  him,  he  seems  a  truly 

to  Dr.  Johnson,  February  3,  1707-8,  valuable  man,  and  to  have  both  abil- 

says  of  him :  "  As  this  comes  by  Mr.  ity    and    disposition    to    do    much 

Barclay,  I  need  not  say  anything  of  good."  —  Churchman's      Magazine, 

what  has  been  done  here  with  regard  Vol.  VII  (1810),  p.  311. 
to  him.     By  all  the  conversation  I 


8         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ica,  with  a  considerable  congregation,  who,  almost  with 
one  voice,  named  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barclay  to  succeed  Mr. 
Vesey  as  Rector."  They  would  not,  they  added,  have 
presumed  to  call  him  from  his  labors  in  the  service  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Grospel,  had 
they  not  been  "  well  satisfied  that,  since  the  war  with 
France  he  had  met  with  insupportable  discouragement, 
which  rendered  his  mission  and  best  endeavours  fruit 
less,  as  well  as  the  safety  of  his  person  precarious 
among  those  savages  in  the  Mohawks'  Country  which, 
with  many  other  parts  of  the  County  of  Albany,  being 
the  frontiers  of  the  province,  is  now  deserted  by  the 
Christian  Inhabitants,  and  almost  laid  waste  by  Bar 
barians  and  French."  The  call  was  not  declined.  On 
October  17,  1746,  Mr.  Barclay  attended  a  meeting  of 
the  vestry,  and  formally  accepted ;  and  on  the  22d  of 
the  same  month,  by  authority  of  the  Governor,  he  was 
inducted  into  the  church  with  no  lack  of  formal  cere 
monial.1  The  society  which  he  had  so  zealously  served 
very  highly  approved  of  his  action  under  the  circum 
stances  of  the  case ;  but  wrote  requesting  him  to  con 
tinue  the  Mohawk  Indians  under  his  care,  as  far  as 
was  consistent  with  his  care  of  Trinity  Church.  The 
temptation  to  read  the  society  a  lecture  on  geography 
must  have  been  great,  but  Mr.  Barclay  successfully 
-resisted  it,  and  gravely  replied  that  he  feared  no  mis 
sionary  could  reside  among  the  Indians  while  the  war 
should  continue ;  that  if  he  had  had  the  least  prospect 
of  doing  so  himself,  he  would  not  have  laid  down  his 
employment ;  and  that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to 
keep  alive  and  cherish  that  good  seed  which  he  had  so 
happily  sown  among  them. 

Mr.  Barclay  had  not  only  come  by  ecclesiastical  pre- 

i  Berrian's  Hist.  Sketch  of  Trinity  Church,  pp.  68-76. 


EARLIER  YEARS  9 

ferment,  but  his  removal  to  New- York  led  him  to  a 
very  prudent  and  fortunate  marriage.  In  1749  he  mar 
ried  Mary,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Anthony  Eutgers 
—  a  rich  brewer,  whose  death  had  occurred  about  the 
time  of  Mr.  Barclay's  call  to  Trinity  Church.1  Mr. 
Rutgers  had  married  the  widow  of  Robert  Benson  — 
Cornelia  de  Roos,  her  maiden  name — and  left  sons  and 
daughters  of  unmixed  Dutch  descent,  who,  in  their 
turn,  multiplied  plentifully.  Mrs.  Rutgers,  by  her  first 
husband,  had  three  children ;  and  of  one  of  her  grand 
children,  Egbert  Benson,  we  shall  hear  later  on. 

Of  the  marriage  between  Henry  Barclay  and  Mary 
Rutgers — she  pure  Dutch,  he  one-fourth  Scotch  and 
three-fourths  Dutch — there  were  born  five  children: 
Thomas,  or  Thomas  H.  Barclay,  the  eldest  son,  with 
whom  we  are  here  chiefly  concerned;  Anthony,  who 
became  a  farmer  at  Newtown,  L.  I. ;  Catharine,  who 
died  young  and  unmarried;  Cornelia,  who  married 
Stephen  De  Lancey ;  and  Anna  Dorothea,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Beverly  Robinson. 

Henry  Barclay's  incumbency  of  Trinity  Church 
seems  to  have  been  prosperous  and  peaceful.  The 
growth  of  his  congregation  soon  made  it  necessary 
to  found  a  chapel  of  ease,  and  St.  George's  was  estab 
lished,  to  become  in  time  a  strong  and  independent 
parish.  The  New- York  Society  Library  was  founded, 
and  Mr.  Barclay  was  named  as  one  of  its  first  trustees. 
And  in  1754  the  long-cherished  wish  of  many  in  New- 
York  was  realized  by  the  granting  of  a  royal  charter 
for  the  founding  of  King's  College — under  the  terms 
of  which  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church  was  to  be  always 
ex  officio  one  of  the  governors.  Columbia  College  to- 

1  His  will  is  dated  August  2,  1746,  and  was  proved  in  New-York, 
September  17,  1740. 


10         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

day  owes  much  of  its  prosperity  to  the  valuable  grant 
from  Trinity  Church  of  a  tract  of  land — then  estimated 
to  be  worth  £3000,  and  now  yielding  the  college  up 
ward  of  $100,000  a  year.  This  tract  was  conveyed  upon 
the  express  condition  that  the  president  of  the  college 
should  forever  be  a  member  of  and  in  communion  with 
the  Church  of  England,  and  that  the  morning  and 
evening  service  should  be  in  the  liturgy  of  that  church. 
The  same  condition  was  in  substance  embodied  in  the 
charter,  but  this  concession  was  only  gained  by  the 
Church  party  after  violent  discussions,  which  gave  rise 
to  much  angry  debate  in  public  and  much  anxious 
thought  in  the  Trinity  vestry.  The  Presbyterians,  un 
der  the  lead  of  William  Livingston,  were  earnest  in 
their  opposition.  The  founding  of  a  college  under 
such  sectarian  influences  was,  they  cried,  but  the  en 
tering  wedge  for  bishops  and  tithes,  and  would  surely 
end  in  the  loss  of  religious  freedom,  "  and  even  in  per 
secution  itself."  For  a  time  the  issue  seemed  in  doubt ; 
but  the  Episcopalians  remained  firm  and  carried  their 
point,  and  there  is  ample  evidence  that  Mr.  Barclay  was 
a  most  active  mover  in  the  business,  and  steadfast  to 
see  that  "  a  gift  so  valuable  in  itself,  and  so  absolutely 
necessary,"  should  "be  a  means  of  obtaining  some 
priviledges  to  the  Church." l 

His  zeal  and  diligence  were  rewarded  by  the  honor 
of  a  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  conferred  by  the 
University  of  Oxford  about  January  1, 1761,  at  the  per 
sonal  solicitation  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.2 

iBerrian's  Hist.  Sketch  of  Trin-  2   The    letter    from  Archbishop 

ity  Church,  pp.   77,  101-105 ;   Doc.  Seeker  to  the  vice-chancellor  of  the 

Eel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  University  has  been  preserved.     It 

912-14 ;  Jones's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  Vol.  is  dated  November  22,  1760. 

I,  pp.  10-17 ;   Beardsley's  Life  and  After  discussing  the  advantages  to 

Corr.  of  Samuel  Johnson,  p.  195.  the  cause  of  religion  in  the  colonies 


EARLIER  YEARS 


11 


Dr.  Barclay  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy  his  academic 
honors.  On  August  20,  1764,  he  departed  this  life,  be 
loved  and  respected,  leaving  his  wife  and  four  children 
surviving. 

"Last  Monday  morning,"  says  the  New-York  Mer 
cury,  of  August  23,  1764,  "between  three  and  four 
o'  Clock,  departed  this  Life,  in  the  53d  Year  of  his  Age, 
the  reverend  Henry  Barclay,  D.  D.  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church ;  in  this  City,  and  on  the  Tuesday  following,  his 
Remains,  attended  by  the  Clergy  of  the  several  De 
nominations,  the  Q-entlemen  and  Chief  Inhabitants  of 
the  City,  preceded  by  the  Charity  Scholars,  who  sung  a 
Psalm,  suitable  to  the  melancholy  Occasion,  during  the 
Procession,  were  carried  to  Trinity  Church,  where  an  ex 
cellent  Funeral  Sermon,  from  Rev.  14, 13,  was  preached, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Achmuty,  to  a  prodigious  large  Audi- 


from  conferring  the  doctor's  degree 
upon  some  of  the  principal  clergy  in 
those  parts,  the  Archbishop  prefers 
his  request  that  that  compliment  be 
paid  to  Mr.  Barclay,  and  continues : 
"  It  appears  from  the  journals  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  that  Mr.  Barclay  is  the  Son 
of  a  Missionary  of  that  Society  to 
the  Indians  on  the  frontiers  of  New 
York ;  that  he  was  educated  under 
Dr.  Johnson  at  New  Haven  College ; 
that  in  1735  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Society  Catechist  to  the  Mohock  In 
dians,  and  in  1737  ordained  priest, 
and  settled  as  a  missionary  among 
them ;  on  which  occasions  the  fullest 
testimonials  were  given  in  his  favor 
by  persons  of  the  first  rank  and  char 
acter,  Clergy  &  Laity;  that  having 
learnt  the  language  of  these  Indians, 
he  preached  to  them  in  it  with  such 
success  as  to  form  out  of  them  a 


Christian  Congregation  of  500  per 
sons,  61  of  whom,  in  all  appearance 
were  worthy  Communicants ;  that  he 
continued  in  this  station  till  the  year 
1745,  when  the  French  Indians,  fall 
ing  on  the  Mohocks,  obliged  him  to 
retire  for  the  safety  of  his  person ; 
that  in  1746  he  was  chosen  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  vacant  by  the  death 
of  Mr.  Commissary  Vesey,  and  hath 
continued  there  ever  since.  Dr. 
Johnson  saith  further,  that  he  is  a 
prudent  and  laborious  man,  an  ac 
complished  divine  and  an  excellent 
preacher."  On  January  20,  1761,  the 
Archbishop  writes  to  Dr.  Johnson  an 
nouncing  that  the  degree  had  been 
unanimously  conferred  on  Mr.  Bar 
clay,  and  offering  his  congratulations 
on  this  well-deserved  compliment. 
Dr.  Johnson  was  then  President  of 
King's  College.  See  Doc.  Eel.  Col. 
Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  451,  454. 


12         COERESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ence,  who  were  extremely  affected  with  the  pathetic  and 
moving  Manner,  in  which  they  were  addressed." 

Dr.  Barclay's  will  bears  date  June  19,  1764.  He  be 
queaths  his  books  in  English  to  his  eldest  son  Thomas; 
his  books  in  Dutch  and  other  personal  effects  to  his 
wife ;  and  the  residue  of  his  estate  he  gives,  one-third 
to  his  wife  and  the  other  two-thirds  to  be  equally  di 
vided  among  his  four  surviving  children.  He  appoints 
as  his  executors  his  wife  Mary  Barclay,  his  brother 
Andrew  Barclay,  his  brother-in-law  Leonard  Lispen- 
ard,  and  his  friend  David  Clarkson. 

THOMAS  BAKCLAY  was  not  quite  eleven  years  old  when 
that  moving  funeral  sermon  was  preached  before  the 
"  prodigious  large  Audience,"  and  the  legacy  of  books 
in  English  came  to  him.  No  record  remains  to  show 
what  store  he  set  by  his  books,  or  how  he  was  taught, 
or  where  he  went  to  school.  One  may  easily  picture 
him  growing  up  in  the  little  provincial  town  in  the 
early  days  when  George  the  Third  was  King;  and  one 
likes  to  think  of  his  widowed  mother  encouraging  him 
in  a  constant  spirit  of  loyalty  to  his  father's  memory, 
and  to  the  church  and  state  of  which  his  father  had 
been  in  a  manner  the  official  representative.  No  doubt 
the  boy,  with  the  profound  and  assured  conviction  of 
youth,  believed  his  father  to  have  been  the  finest 
preacher  in  all  the  colonies,  the  Church  of  England  the 
embodiment  of  all  spiritual  truth,  the  young  King  the 
ablest  and  best  of  rulers,  and  the  system  of  govern 
ment  administered  by  Cadwallader  Golden  the  perfec 
tion  of  human  reason.  One  form  of  education  was 
certainly  not  lacking.  The  divine  right  of  kings  and  the 
rights  of  the  people  must  have  been  debated  in  every 
boy's  hearing  often  enough  in  the  stirring  days  when  the 


EARLIER  YEARS  13 

Stamp  Act  Congress  was  sitting  in  New- York,  and  the 
province  was  pointing  the  way  to  independence. 

In  1768  Thomas  Barclay,  not  quite  fifteen  years  old, 
was  entered  at  King's  College.  His  father,  his  uncle 
Leonard  Lispenard,  and  his  father's  friend  David 
Clarkson  were  among  the  original  governors  of  the 
college.  The  two  latter  w^ere  still  sitting  in  the  board, 
and  Lispenard  was  its  treasurer.  Dr.  Myles  Cooper, 
late  a  fellow  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford — a  jolly,  con 
vivial  gentleman,  and  an  eager  supporter  of  the  royal 
authority — was  president;  Dr.  Clossy,  of  Dublin,  and 
Mr.  Harpur,  from  Glasgow,  composed  the  remainder  of 
the  faculty ;  but  the  classes  were  small  as  yet,  and  the 
instructors  were  thus  "  enabled  to  extend  their  plan  of 
education  almost  as  diffusely  as  any  college  in  Europe." 
Diffuse  was  indeed  the  word.  An  appalling  list  of 
studies  remains,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Cooper ;  and  we  find 
divinity,  natural  law,  and  Hebrew  taking  their  place 
with  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics,  and  "  whatever 
else  of  literature  may  tend  to  accomplish  the  pupils  as 
scholars  and  gentlemen."  To  judge  by  results,  the  col 
lege  system  worked  well.  The  best  people  in  the  place 
sent  their  sons,  and  the  graduates  were  in  good  truth 
"  scholars  and  gentlemen."  Richard  Harison,  John 
Jay,  Egbert  Benson,  Eobert  E.  Livingston,  John  Watts, 
and  Gouverneur  Morris  were  among  the  most  recent 
alumni.  In  the  list  of  those  who  were  fellow-students 
with  Thomas  Barclay  we  find  the  names  of  Pell, 
Knox,  King,  Ogden,  Bogert,  Philipse,  Auchmuty,  Eob- 
inson,  Jauncey,  Nicoll,  Eapelje,  Troup,  Eemsen,  and 
Livingston — familiar  to  every  student  of  the  local 
history  of  New- York. 

The  college  influence  was  of  course  in  a  direction 
favorable  to  the  crown.  While  the  College  of  New  Jer- 


14         CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

soy  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterians  and  the  col 
lege  at  New  Haven  was  reckoned  "  a  nursery  of  sedi 
tion,  of  faction  and  of  republicanism," l  King's  College 
was  under  the  shadow  of  the  Church,  and  governed  by 
a  board  which  included  not  only  the  principal  officers 
of  the  province,  but  such  earnest  Loyalists  as  John 
Watts  the  elder,  Frederick  Philipse,  Oliver  and  James 
De  Lancey,  Charles  Ward  Apthorpe,  Thomas  Jones, 
Jacob  Walton,  and  John  Harris  Cruger.  Indeed,  of  the 
college  graduates  down  to  1776  a  greater  number  were 
to  be  found  in  the  King's  troops  than  in  the  service  of 
the  Continental  Congress. 

In  the  spring  of  1772,  when  the  long-threatening  dis 
content  of  the  colonies  was  daily  gathering  force,  when 
Samuel  Adams  was  preaching  sedition  in  Massachu 
setts,  and  the  men  of  Rhode  Island  were  burning  the 
Gaspee,  Thomas  Barclay  was  graduated.  The  com 
mencement  was  held  at  Trinity  Church  on  Tuesday, 
May  19th,  in  the  presence  of  "  a  numerous  and  respect 
able  Audience,"  which  included  Governor  Tryon  and 
G-eneral  Gage.  After  prayers,  and  "  an  elegant  Latin 
Oration"  by  Eev.  Mr.  Inglis,  Mr.  Ogden  delivered  the 
salutatory  oration  "  with  great  propriety  of  Pronunci 
ation  and  gracefulness  of  Gesture."  The  audience  was 
next  agreeably  entertained  by  Mr.  Bowden,  "whose 
elegant  Composition  and  animated  delivery  did  him 
much  Honour."  Then  Mr.  Skene  "discovered  much 
Brilliancy  of  Fancy  and  Refined  Taste";  Mr.  Winter- 
ton  and  Mr.  Muirson  maintained  a  "Forensic  Dispute  " ; 
Mr.  King  "gain'd  much  Applause  by  an  animated 
Latin  Oration";  and  Mr.  Roebuck  made  fun  of  the 
"  Bold  Hypotheses  of  Presumptuous  Philosophers  and 
the  Ridiculous  consequences  of  Confidence  and  Dog- 

i  Jones's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  Vol.  I,  p.  3. 


EARLIER  YEARS  15 

matism  "  in  a  manner  which  "  occasioned  much  mirth." 
The  degrees  having  been  conferred,  "  the  Exercises  of 
the  Day  were  then  concluded  with  a  very  sensible  Vale 
dictory  Oration  on  Sociability  by  Mr.  Barclay,  whose 
judicious  Observations  and  modest  Address  gave  him 
universal  Approbation.  The  Attention,"  adds  the  hon 
est  reporter,  "  paid  by  the  Audience  and  the  Satisfaction 
they  expressed  during  the  Course  of  the  Exercises  did 
much  Honour  to  themselves,  and  the  Speakers ;  and  must 
give  pleasure  to  every  Lover  of  Literature,  and  every 
true  Patriot,  who  wishes  to  see  the  Sciences  dissemi 
nated  and  widely  flourishing  in  this  happy  country." l 
Barclay  made  choice  of  the  law  for  his  profession, 
and  it  is  the  tradition  of  his  family  that  he  became  a 
student  in  the  office  of  John  Jay.  In  due  course  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar — probably  about  1775,  when 
he  was  just  of  age.  It  was  not  a  favorable  time  for  a 
young  lawyer  to  enter  upon  his  profession.  Even  in 
the  city  of  New- York,  distant  as  it  was  from  the  fields 
of  actual  conflict,  the  laws  were  silenced  in  the  clash  of 
arms.  The  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  brought 
turmoil  and  confusion.  The  Provincial  Congress  met 
(Leonard  Lispenard  and  David  Clarkson  among  them), 
and  began  raising  troops  and  fortifying  at  Kingsbridge 
and  along  the  Hudson.  Washington  passed  through 
New- York  for  the  eastward,  stopping  at  Lispenard's 
house.  Zealous  Dr.  Cooper,  roused  at  midnight  and 
huddling  on  a  few  of  his  clothes,  jumped  from  a  back 
window  of  King's  College  to  escape  a  party  bent  on 
shaving  his  head  and  cutting  off  his  ears;  and  never 
stopped  till  he  found  safety  in  a  snug  living  in  Eng 
land.  Governor  Tryon  withdrew  from  the  town  and 
prudently  took  refuge  upon  the  Asia,  man-of-war, 

l  N.  Y.  Jour.,  May  28,  1772. 


16         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

where  he  transacted  all  his  business  and  held  his  coun 
cils.  The  courts  were  still  sitting,  but  no  business  of  a 
civil  nature  was  transacted  in  them.  Open  outbreaks 
occurred  between  the  people  of  the  town  and  the  crews 
of  the  King's  ships,  and  on  August  24th  the  Asia  fired 
upon  the  city.  Early  in  September  one-third  of  the 
citizens  had  moved  away.  "Every  office  shut  up 
almost,"  wrote  John  Morin  Scott,  "  but  Sam  Jones's, 
who  will  work  for  6/  a  day  and  live  accordingly  —  All 
Business  stagnated,  the  City  half  deserted  for  fear  of  a 
Bombardment." l  Surely  an  unfavorable  prospect  for 
our  young  attorney. 

But  dark  as  the  future  might  seem — and  it  doubtless 
appeared  darkest  to  those  who  believed  most  firmly  in 
the  courage  and  constancy  of  the  revolted  colonies — 
young  gentlemen  of  Tory  families  were  not  to  be  fright 
ened  away  from  assuming  new  duties  and  responsibili 
ties.  Marrying  and  giving  in  marriage  went  on,  al 
though  Montgomery  and  Arnold  were  marching  into 
Canada,  and  Washington  was  drilling  his  minute- 
men  under  the  elms  at  Cambridge.  Were  not  ships 
coming  across  the  sea  to  set  the  world  right  once 
more!  And  so,  on  October  2,  1775,  Thomas  Barclay 
and  Susan  De  Lancey  were  married  at  West  Farms, 
near  New- York. 2 

l Lamb's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  Vol.  II,  iiior,  Esq.,  recorder  of  New- York, 

pp.  21-49;  Jones's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.?  to  Miss  Jane  De  Lancey;  and  Thomas 

Vol.  I,  pp.  39-63.  H.  Barclay,  Esq.,  to  Miss  Susanna 

2  At  the  same  time  Mrs.  Barclay's  De  Lancey,  daughters  of  the  late  Pe- 

sister  Jane  was   married  to  John  ter  De  Lancey,  Esq. 
Watts,  the  Recorder  of  New- York.  « Round  their  nuptial  beds, 

The  double  marriage  was  thus  an-  Hovering  with  purple  wings,  th'  Idalian 

nouncedin  Kivington's  Gazetteer:  boy 

tt  m,  •  •  .    -i  Shook  from  his  radiant  torch,  the  blies- 

"This  evening  were  married  at,  fulflres 

Union  Hill,  in  the  borough  of  West-  Of  iimocent  desires, 

Chester,  New-York,  John  Watts,  Ju-    While  Venus  scattered  myrtles.' " 


EARLIER  YEARS  17 

It  was  a  singularly  happy  union.  For  more  than  fifty 
years  this  husband  and  wife  were  to  live  together  in 
evil  fortune  and  in  good,  secure  in  a  most  earnest  and 
constant  affection.  Home  and  land  might  be  lost,  but 
from  early  youth  to  extreme  old  age  they  remained  true 
and  faithful  to  each  other.  In  the  dark  days  of  exile  110 
shadow  of  dissension  seems  ever  to  have  come  between 
them,  and  their  later  years  were  prosperous  and  happy. 

Susan  (or  Susanna)  De  Lancey  was  the  fifth  daughter 
of  Peter  De  Lancey,  and  one  of  eleven  children.  She 
was  born  September  15,  1755,  and  was  therefore  not 
quite  twenty  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  Her  maternal 
grandfather  was  Cadwallader  Golden,  the  sturdy  old 
Scotch  doctor  who,  as  Lieutenant-Grovernor  of  the 
province,  had  so  long  contended  against  Stamp  Act 
congresses  and  sullen  assemblies  and  turbulent  com 
mittees  of  safety,  and  who  was  now  living  retired  in  his 
new  house  at  Flushing.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was 
a  Huguenot  refugee  of  a  good  Norman  family,  who 
had  drifted  from  France  to  Holland,  from  Holland  to 
England,  and  from  England  to  New- York,  and  had 
here  married  a  Van  Cortlandt  of  the  old  Dutch  stock. 
The  family  is  famous  in  the  local  annals  of  New- York 
as  the  stanchest  supporter  of  the  royal  authority  and 
the  Church  of  England.  One  of  Susan  De  Lancey's 
uncles — James  De  Lancey — had  been  Chief  Justice  of 
the  province,  and  Colden's  predecessor  in  the  office  of 
Lieutenant-Grovernor.  Another  uncle — Oliver  De  Lan 
cey — was  a  General  in  the  British  service.  A  cousin  — 
Stephen  De  Lancey — who  had  married  Cornelia  Bar 
clay,  was  a  Colonel  in  the  King's  troops;  and  their  eldest 
son  was  Wellington's  chief -of -staff  at  Waterloo,  where 
he  lost  his  life.  One  of  Mrs.  Barclay's  brothers— James 
De  Lancey — raised  a  loyal  regiment  in  Westchester 


18        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

County.  Another  James,  a  cousin,  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor's  son,  was  the  agent  for  the  Loyalists  in  Eng 
land  after  the  peace,  and  so  lost  his  great  estate  in  the 
heart  of  the  city  of  New- York.  Oliver  De  Lancey,  the 
General's  son,  succeeded  Andre  as  Adjutant-General  of 
the  British  forces,  and  died  a  Lieutenant-General. 
With  few  exceptions,  the  men  of  the  family  were  stren 
uous  in  their  support  of  British  authority  to  the  very 
last,  and  died  in  exile;  but  one  or  two  of  them,  and 
notably  one  of  Mrs.  Barclay's  brothers,  courageously 
refused  to  take  arms  against  the  country  of  their  birth. 
The  city  of  New- York,  as  we  have  seen,  had  so 
clearly  become  an  undesirable  residence  for  profes 
sional  gentlemen,  that  our  young  married  couple  took 
up  their  abode  in  Ulster  County,  "at  the  Wallkill,"  near 
Coldenham,  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  Orange  County, 
where  grandfather  Colden  owned  large  tracts  of  land. 
But  Ulster  was  no  place  of  repose  for  Tories,  or  even 
for  those  who  were  willing  to  be  neutral  in  the  great 
contest  just  beginning.  The  committees  of  safety  in 
the  various  counties  were  not  content  with  anything 
short  of  open  and  unqualified  adherence  to  the  Con 
tinental  cause,  and  were  only  too  willing  to  find  oc 
casions  for  discovering  enemies  to  the  State.  The 
powers  of  these  committees  were  as  vague  as  they  were 
extensive,  and  were  often  exercised  harshly  and  un 
justly.  It  was  the  common  course  of  procedure  to 
summon  individuals  who  were  suspected  of  a  leaning 
to  the  British  cause  and  to  tender  them  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  State,  or  the  "general  association," 
which  included  a  pledge  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
King;  and  arrest,  imprisonment,  and  banishment  fol 
lowed  a  refusal.  To  speak  disrespectfully  of  the  Con 
gress,  or  to  refuse  to  take  Continental  money  at  par, 


EARLIER  YEARS  19 

were  good  grounds  for  arrest.  All  who  were  not  known 
to  be  well  affected  became  objects  of  silly  suspicion ; 
and  nervous  people  imagined  conspiracies  and  secret 
treachery  to  be  hatching  all  about  them,  and  worried 
and  bullied  their  neighbors,  until  they  were  like  to 
drive  into  opposition  many  of  those  who  had  pre 
viously  been  not  very  unfavorable  to  the  cause  of  the 
colonies. 

In  the  rough  county  of  Ulster  we  may  well  imagine 
that  the  farmers  and  woodmen  were  not  delicate  in 
dealing  with  suspected  Tories,  and  that  dissent  from 
the  views  of  the  majority — and  much  less  open  oppo 
sition — was  intolerable  and  not  to  be  endured.  And  so 
in  the  year  1776,  when  the  battle  of  Long  Island  was 
fought,  and  Sir  William  Howe  was  slowly  driving  the 
Americans  back  from  New- York,  Thomas  Barclay  laid 
his  law-books  aside,  set  his  face  southward,  and  joined 
the  British  army  as  a  volunteer. 

For  the  next  seven  years  he  was  a  soldier,  and,  as 
we  shall  see,  a  very  active  and  efficient  one — march 
ing  and  fighting  in  New- York,  New  Jersey,  Connecti 
cut,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas.  On  April  10,  1777, 
being  twenty-three  years  old,  he  was  commissioned  a 
Captain  in  Beverly  Robinson's  Loyal  American  Regi 
ment,  and  was  soon  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major  for 
gallant  service  at  the  taking  of  Forts  Clinton  and 
Montgomery.1 

Beverly  Robinson,  his  Colonel,  was  a  Virginian  by 
birth,  and  a  son  of  John  Robinson,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  the  council,  and  Acting  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia  in  1749  and  1750.  Beverly  Robinson's  wife  was 
Susannah  Philipse,  of  Yonkers  —  a  sister  of  General 

1  His  commission  as  Major  bears  date  August  2,  1778 ;  but  he  is  to  rank 
from  October  7,  1777,  the  date  of  the  capture  of  the  forts. 


20         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Washington's  Mary  Philipse, —  and  through  her  Rob 
inson  had  acquired  large  tracts  of  land  bordering  the 
Hudson  River.  His  residence  opposite  West  Point 
acquired  a  tragic  notoriety  as  the  headquarters  of 
Benedict  Arnold;  and,  indeed,  Colonel  Robinson  was 
himself  actively  concerned  in  events  of  September, 
1780.  He  had  accompanied  Andre  on  that  disastrous 
journey  up  the  river,  and  from  the  Vulture,  "  off  Sin- 
sink"  (Sing  Sing),  he  wrote  to  Washington,  recalling 
their  early  friendship,  and  demanding  in  peremptory 
fashion  Andre's  immediate  release.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  Colonel  Robinson  retired  to  England, where  he  died. 

The  Lieutenant-Colonel  was  Beverly  Robinson,  Jr., 
the  Colonel's  son.  He  was  born  in  New- York  in  1755, 
graduated  at  King's  College  in  1773,  and  returning  long 
after  the  peace,  died  here  in  1816.  As  we  have  seen,  he 
had  married  a  sister  of  Thomas  Barclay. 

From  1776  to  the  late  summer  of  1781  Barclay  was 
constantly  employed  in  active  service.  The  long  period 
of  negotiation  followed,  to  be  terminated  in  the  spring 
of  1783  by  the  announcement  of  the  ratification  of  the 
provisional  treaty  of  peace.  The  Loyalist  troops  were 
disbanded,  their  officers  were  placed  on  half  pay,  and 
the  wave  of  British  invasion  began  to  recede,  sweeping 
away  in  its  retreat  prodigious  numbers  of  American 
loyalists,  who  were  scattered  to  England,  to  Canada, 
to  Bermuda,  and  to  Nova  Scotia,  to  begin  life  again 
under  another  sky.  Tens  of  thousands  of  these  un 
happy  people  sailed  away  into  exile  during  this  year  of 
1783,  and  with  them  went  Thomas  Barclay,  accom 
panied  by  his  wife  and  four  little  children  —  the  eldest 
not  seven  years  old. 

Under  the  act  of  the  New-York  Legislature  of  Octo 
ber  22,  1779,  he  had  been  attainted  and  convicted  of 


EARLIER  YEARS  21 

high  treason ;  his  property  was  declared  to  be  forfeited 
to  and  vested  in  the  people  of  this  State ;  he  was  for 
ever  banished ;  and  it  was  provided  that  if  he  should 
be  at  any  time  found  within  the  State,  he  should  be  de 
clared  guilty  of  felony  and  should  suffer  death  without 
benefit  of  clergy.  He  was  just  thirty  years  old  when 
New- York  was  evacuated,  and  except  his  half  pay  he 
had  little  left  but  a  sturdy  frame  and  a  stout  heart. 

Writing  nine  years  later  to  his  friend  Brook  Watson, 
in  London,  he  thus  recounted  his  services  to  the  Brit 
ish  crown : l 


TO    BROOK    WATSON. 

Annapolis,  20th  Octr  1792. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  now  some  Business  of  my  own  I  wish  to 
trouble  you  with,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  success  should  you 
find  yourself  at  liberty  heartily  to  unite  with  two  or  three  of 
my  other  friends  in  England.  It  has  only  wanted  a  person  of 
some  Interest  and  Activity  to  obtain  it  these  three  years,  for  I 
am  certain  if  the  facts  were  known  to  the  Minister  or  Lords  of 
the  treasury  it  would  not  be  denied.  Of  your  wish  to  serve 
me  from  your  past  favors  and  Professions  I  can  and  have  no 
doubt, — I  have  only  to  request  if  it  is  in  the  least  inconvenient 
or  militates  with  any  other  object  you  may  have  in  view,  you 
will  by  no  means  comply  with  my  request. 

The  application  I  wish  my  friends  to  make  is  for  a  pension 
in  lieu  of  the  professional  Loss  I  stand  reported  for  by  the  Am" 
Commissioners  and  which  my  half  pay  by  the  act  of  Parlia- 

1  Brook  Watson  had  a  singular  He  became  a  leading  merchant  in 

and  adventurous  career.     He  was  of  London,  a  Member  of  Parliament, 

humble  origin,  and  had  sought  his  a  Baronet,  and  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 

fortuiie  in  all  parts  of  the  world.    He  don.      A  sketch  of  his  life  will  be 

was  for  a  time  Commissary-General  found  in  Nova   Scotia  Hist.  Coll., 

of  the  British  forces  in  America.  Vol.  II,  p.  135. 

2A 


22  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ment  excludes  me  from  receiving.1  It  is  improper  and  useless 
to  urge  any  argument  against  the  exception  in  the  act  of  Par 
liament,  but  it  strikes  me  as  extremely  obvious  that  Gentlemen 
who  bore  an  active  part  during  the  War  and  hardly  earned 
their  pay,  merit  some  thing  more  than  those  drones  who  re 
mained  inactive,  and  were  a  dead  weight  on  Government  re 
ceiving  an  allowance  of  money  and  provision  without  doing 
any  thing  for  it.  The  professional  Compensation  includes 
most  of  the  latter  description  and  very  few  of  the  former. 
However  I  neither  could  expect  or  would  I  apply  for  a  pension 
were  there  not  several  Instances  of  them,  and  as  I  conceive  my 
self  equally  entitled  with  any  officer  who  served  and  have  as 
ample  certificates  of  my  behavior  and  Services  as  can  be 
penned,  I  deem  it  but  Justice  to  my  numerous  family  to  re 
quest  the  aid  of  my  friends  to  obtain  that  we  so  much  want 
and  others  under  similar  circumstances  enjoy. — I  shall  name 
only  three  Gentlemen  who  receive  these  pensions  altho'  there 
are  many  more.  They  are  Gentlemen  of  family  Character  and 
every  way  deserving  of  the  attention  of  Government.  The 
first,  Col.  Cruger,2  merits  it  also  on  the  Score  of  important 
Services  and  spirited  behavior.  The  two  others,  majors  Van 
Cortlandt3  and  Bayard4  can  have  no  claims  from  Service,  hav 
ing  seen  but  very  little  if  any.  It  is  disagreeable  for  me  to  say 
anything  on  the  Score  of  my  own,  but  as  I  am  writing  to  you 
what  to  urge  in  favor  of  my  pretensions,  you  will  not  I  trust 
look  on  it  as  proceeding  from  vanity  or  savoring  of  Egotism. 

1  The  act  referred  to  is  23  Geo.  sioners  was  presented  to  Parliament 
III.,  Chap.  80,  passed  in  July,  1783,  in  March,  1790. 
under  which  a  board  of  three  com-  2  John  Harris  Cruger,  Lieutenant- 
missioners  was  created  "  for  enquir-  Colonel  of  De  Laucey's  First  Bat 
ing  into  the  respective  Losses  and  talion.     Best  known  for  his  brilliant 
Services  of  all  such  Person  and  Per-  defense  of  the  fort  at  Ninety-Six,  in 
sons    who   have    suffered    in  their  South  Carolina,  June,  1781. 
Eights,  Properties  and  Possessions,  3  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Major  of 
during  the  late  unhappy  Dissentions  the   Third    Battalion,   New    Jersey 
in  America,  in  consequence  of  their  Volunteers. 

Loyalty  to  His  Majesty,  and  Attach-  4  Samuel   Bayard,   Major  of    the 

ment  to  the  British  Government."  King's  Orange  Bangers. 
The  final  statement  of  the  commis- 


EARLIER  YEARS 


23 


In  the  spring  of  the  year  1776  I  was  driven  from  my  home 
by  the  Americans  and  joined  the  Royal  Army,  wherein  I 
acted  as  a  volunteer  during  the  Campaign  of  that  year.1  In 
the  beginning  of  1777  I  joined  Col:  Robinson  in  raising  a 
Corps  and  was  that  Summer  at  the  storming  of  Forts  Clinton 
and  Montgomery.  My  Behavior  there  met  the  approbation  of 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  he  promoted  me  to  the  Majority  of  the 
Regiment.  At  that  time  I  went  out  for  him  on  a  feigned  flag 
of  truce  in  order  to  discover  General  Putnam's  &  Parson's 
Situation, —  Sir  Henry  being  apprehensive  the  latter  had 
marched  to  attack  the  Lines  at  Kings  Bridge  tjien  very  weakly 
defended.  This  I  effected  at  the  risque  of  my  Life,  having 
been  detained  a  day  and  a  half  on  Suspicion  of  being  a  Spy, 
and  brought  Sir  Henry  at  Verplanks  Point  agreeable  and  pos 
itive  Information.  In  1778  I  served  on  Board  the  Carrysfort 
Frigate  with  100  of  the  Reg*  as  Marines  while  the  French 
fleet  were  at  Rhode  Island  and  at  the  Hook  near  New  York.2 
In  '79  was  in  Connecticut  under  General  Tryon,3  and  during 


i  The  ' '  spring "  of  1776  seems  to 
be  an  error.  Lord  Howe  only  reached 
Staten  Island  July  12,  1776,  so  that 
Barclay  could  not  have  joined  the 
Royal  Army  before  that  time.  He 
may,  however,  have  left  Ulster  Coun 
ty  earlier  and  gone  to  Queens  Coun 
ty,  which  was  a  much  more  congenial 
locality.  His  first  child  was  born 
at  Flushing,  December  3,  1776.  A 
week  earlier,  on  November  27, 1776, 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  sitting  at 
Fishkill, — having  before  it  "an  in 
ventory  of  the  personal  Estate  late 
belonging  to  Thomas  Barclay  of 
Ulster  County,"  who  had  "some 
months  since  gone  over  to  the  enemy 
on  Nassau  Island,"  —  ordered  Wil 
liam  Duer  to  take  all  the  hay,  for 
age,  and  grain  from  Barclay's  farm 
for  the  use  of  the  army,  and  directed 
that  the  live  stock  be  sold  at  pub 


lic  auction  —  reserving  only  so  much 
as  might  be  needed  for  the  support 
of  Mr.  Fowler,  the  overseer,  and 
his  family,  and  the  slaves  on  the 
farm.  Journals  Prov.  Cong.,  Vol.  I, 
p.  721. 

2  The  Carrysfort  was  a  frigate  of 
twenty-eight  guns,  commanded  by 
Captain  Robert  Fanshaw.     On  Au 
gust  18,  1778,  we  read  in  Montre- 
sor's  Journal  that    she  was  lying, 
with  the    Camilla    and    the  Zebra, 
near    Flushing,    and    that    on    the 
20th  "the  Regiment  of  New  York 
Loyalists   embarked  on  board  the 
frigates  at  Flushing "  were  ordered 
to    land  "and    take   up    their    old 
ground."      N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll., 
1881,  p.  510. 

3  This  was  in  July,  1779.     On  the 
night  of  July  4th  and  the  morning 
of  the  5th,  1779,  Governor  Tryon 


24 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 


the  remainder  of  the  Season  composed  one  of  the  Garrison  at 
Verplanks  Point  (opposite  Stony  Point)  under  L*  Col.  "Web 
ster  1  who  commanded  from  May  to  Aug*,  during  which  period 
I  had  the  care  and  command  of  the  right  hand  redonbt  which 
from  having  it  in  the  magazine  sustained  the  whole  of  the 
cannonade  and  bombardment  of  the  Americans  for  four  days 
from  Stony  Point  which  they  had  gained.2  About  the  last  of 
August  the  33  Rg*  &  Col  Webster  left  Verplanks  Point  when 
the  Commander  in  chief  appointed  me  to  the  command  on  the 
Recommendation  of  Col.  Webster,  with  a  Garrison  of  600 
men  two  thirds  of  whom  were  ill  with  Agues  and  fevers.  I 
maintained  the  Post  until  ordered  to  evacuate  it  in  Novr,3 
notwithstanding  Mr.  Washington  and  his  whole  army  were 
within  a  days  March  and  reconoitering  our  Works  and  attack 
ing  the  Picquets  daily.  During  the  Winter  of  79  &  80  I  was 
twice  in  the  Jerseys  in  command,  once  with  a  detachment  of 
the  Guards,  the  second  time  with  German  Troops.  In  1780  I 


landed  near  New  Haven.  A  stand 
was  made  by  the  defenders  at  West- 
bridge,  on  the  Milford  road,  and  the 
British  were  f  orcedto  turn  from  their 
path.  At  Thompson's  Bridge,  on  the 
Derby  road,  another  skirmish  har 
assed  the  British,  but  New  Haven 
was  entered,  plundered,  and  sacked. 
The  President  of  Yale  was  among 
those  maltreated.  Leaving  New 
Haven,  the  fleet  sailed  to  Fairfield. 
Little  resistance  was  made,  and  the 
town  was  plundered  and  burned. 
Green's  Farms  was  the  next  object 
of  the  vengeance  of  Tryon,  and  was 
almost  utterly  destroyed.  On  the 
llth  Norwalk  was  entered  and  de 
stroyed.  Tryon  was  then  recalled 
to  New- York. 

1  James  Webster  was  the  son  of 
a  Scotch  clergyman  of  Edinburgh. 
He  came  to  America  as  Major  of  the 
Thirty-third  Foot,  was  promoted  to 


be  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Guilf  ord,  North 
Carolina,  March  14,  1781.  Lee,  in 
his  Memoirs  of  the  War,  p.  292,  de 
clares  that  Webster  was  the  first 
among  the  officers  of  Cornwallis's 
army. 

2  General   Wayne    retook    Stony 
Point  on  the  morning  of  July  16, 
1779,  and  held  it  for  only  a  few  days. 
That  post,  and  the  works  at  Ver- 
planck's  Point  on  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  had  been  captured  by  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  in  May. 

3  Barclay,  writing  from  memory, 
is  not  quite  accurate  in  his  dates. 
Verplanck's  Point  was  evacuated  on 
the  morning  of  October  21,    1779, 
when  the  British  set  fire  to  their 
buildings,  and,  embarking  on  trans 
ports,   sailed    down    to  New- York. 
See  Memoirs  of   Maj.-Gen.  Heath, 
p.  220. 


EARLIER  YEARS  25 

was  attached  to  the  provincial  Light  Infantry,1  served  with 
General  Leslie  in  Virginia  where  I  commanded  the  advanced 
Post,2  and  afterwards  in  Carolina  under  Lord  Rawdon.  In 
Carolina  we  were  frequently  in  Action,  in  one  of  which  (at 
Kanty's  house)  I  received  two  wounds  in  the  same  charge.3 
When  Lord  Rawdon  resigned  the  Command  in  Carolina  I  was 
requested  by  him  to  carry  his  Dispatches  by  Sea  to  Lord 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  in  Virginia,  and  was  taken  at  the 
Enterance  of  the  Capes  by  the  French  fleet  in  attempting 
to  make  my  way  through  them  to  his  Lordship,  was  a  Pris 
oner  with  the  French  during  the  Action  off  the  Capes  under 
Ad.  Graves  and  Count  de  Grasse,4 — obtained  my  parol  in  a 
few  days  after,  and  arrived  at  New  York  in  time  to  give  the 
Commanders  in  Chief  by  Sea  and  Land  very  full  and  neces 
sary  information.  From  that  period  the  offensive  part  of  the 
War  ceased — Lord  Dorchester 5  arrived  and  yourself  with 
him  —  you  therefore  my  dear  Sir  can  say  what  Character  I 
had  at  New  York  as  an  officer  and  have  therefore  only  to  add 
that  after  the  War  instead  of  going  to  England  to  prosecute 
my  claims  and  obtain  a  pension  as  many  officers  did, —  I  came 
to  Nova  Scotia  at  Lord  Dorchester's  &  your  request  to  locate 
the  Lands  for  the  provincial  troops  in  company  with  Col.  D. 

1  This  was  the  Corps  of  Provincial  defeat  at   King's  Mountain,   aban- 
Light  Infantry,   made  up   of  frag-  doned  his  march  to  Virginia;   and 
ments  of  several  Loyalist  regiments,  on  November  22,  1780,  Leslie  reem- 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  barked  his  detachment  and  sailed 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Watson.     Wat-  for  Charleston. 

son  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  3  This  affair  was  probably  a  skir- 

and  a  Captain  and  Lieutenant-Colo-  mish  between  Watson's  Light  Infan- 

nel  in  the  Third  Foot  Guards.     His  try  and  Marion.     Canty's  house  is 

corps  was  very  constantly  and  ac-  shown  on  the  map  prefixed  to  Tar- 

tively  employed  in  the  Carolinas.  leton's  Letters,  etc.,  and  lies  about 

He  rose  eventually  to  the  rank  of  fifteen  miles  east  of  Nelson's  Ferry 

General,  and  died  in  France  in  1826.  on  the  Santee,  on  the  road  to  George- 

2  General  Leslie,  with  about  3000  town. 

men,  was  sent  by  Sir  Henry  Clin-        4  September,  1781. 
ton  to  meet  Cornwallis  in  Virginia        5  Lord  Dorchester,  better  known 

in  October,  1780.     Leslie  occupied  in  our  history  as  Sir  Guy  Carletoii, 

Portsmouth  without  opposition  ;  but  arrived  in  New-York  as  Sir  Henry 

Cornwallis,  in  consequence  of  the  Clinton's  successor,  in  May,  1782. 


26  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

L.1  &  Ed.  Winslow.2  How  well  we  executed  this  trust  I  leave 
you  to  speak. — This  I  may  safely  add,  the  Province  of  New 
Brunswic  owes  its  present  existence  to  our  exertions  and  rep 
resentations  to  you. 

From  this  detail  you  will  observe  I  have  been  on  actual 
Service  and  in  action  more  or  less  every  campain  from 
1777  to  1781.  The  copies  of  Certificates  inclosed  will  prove 
how  well  I  served.  The  originals  have  been  delivered  into 
the  Treasury.  If  more  were  necessary  Generals  Leslie, 
Vaughn  and  Mathews — Cols.  Watson,  Small  and  Balfour 
and  all  the  officers  of  the  Guards  63  &  64  Regts.  who  served  in 
Virginia  and  Carolina  would  cheerfully  certify — Lady  South 
ampton  (who  is  a  cousin  German  of  Mrs.  B's)  has  promised 
her  Lords  Good  offices  in  my  favor.3  I  have  given  you  as  full 
a  Statement  as  I  think  requisite.  My  recommendations  are 
ample.  My  Presence  in  the  County  of  Annapolis  has  contrib 
uted  more  to  its  improvement,  and  retaining  the  Loyalists 
here  than  any  other  person,  and  the  Henly  settlement  in  Wil- 
mot  exceeds  any  new  one  in  either  province.  Those  pursuits, 
which  dearly  benefit  the  parent  state  have  been  the  obstruc 
tions  to  my  coming  over  to  London — I  conceived  it  a  duty  in 
cumbent  on  me  at  the  close  of  the  War  to  attend  those  who 
had  faithfully  served  their  king  and  see  them  comfortably 
setled  —  Had  I  gone  home  in  1783  or  any  subsequent  year  by 
my  personal  attendance,  added  to  the  Interest  of  my  friends,  I 
should  have  procured  a  temporary  support  and  a  pension 
afterwards.  In  case  you  my  friends  should  not  succeed  this 
Winter,  I  must  cross  the  Atlantic  and  try  my  own  exertions. 
I  have  a  family  of  ten  Children  and  find  my  half  pay  and  prac 
tice  unequal  to  their  maintenance  even  with  studied  Economy, 

1  James    De    Lancey,    Mrs.   Bar-  the  Loyalist  forces.  He  died  in  New 
clay's  brother.  Brunswick  in  1815. 

2  Edward  Winslow,  Jr.,  born  in  3  Lady    Southampton    was    the 
Massachusetts    about   1745,   gradu-  daughter  of  Admiral  Sir  Peter  War- 
ated  at  Harvard,  1765.    He  was  a  ren,  whose  wife  was  Susan  De  Lan- 
Colonel  in  the  King's  service,  and  in  cey,  Mrs.  Barclay's  aunt. 

1782  was  Muster-Master-General  of 


EARLIER  YEARS  27 

and  when  I  have  made  this  last  Attempt  I  shall  set  down 
satisfied  that  I  have  left  nothing  untried. — 

Copies  of  Certificates  which  accompanied  Major  Barclay's 
Application  to  the  right  Honble  the  Lord  Commissioners  of 
His  Majestys  Treasury. 

I  Certify,  That  I  always  considered  Major  Barclay  of  Colo 
nel  Beverly  Robinsons  Regiment  of  Provincials  as  a  very 
zealous  active  officer,  and  in  every  respect  intitled  to  the  At 
tention  of  Government 

H:  CLINTON  L*  GEN1. 

I  Certify,  That  Thomas  Barclay  Esqr  Major  to  Colonel 
Robinsons  Regiment  of  Provincials  served  under  my  com 
mand  in  Carolina,  and  merited  much  praise  for  his  activity, 
courage  and  conduct  on  every  occasion.  His  zeal  was  equally 
conspicuous  in  the  earlier  Period  of  the  War,  I,  therefore,  beg 
leave  to  recommend  him  Strongly  to  the  Commissioners  tho' 
he  is  not  here  in  Person  to  make  his  application. 

RAWDON. 

London  Febry  5th  1790. 

I  do  Certify,  that  as  Inspector  General  of  the  late  Provincial 
Forces  in  North  America,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  being  per 
sonally  acquainted  with  the  Character  of  Major  Thomas  Bar 
clay  of  the  Loyal  American  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Beverly  Robinson  j  and  can  give  the  most  ample  Testimony 
of  his  Zeal,  Spirit  and  Loyalty,  from  the  earliest  period  of  the 
Rebellion,  and  of  his  Worth  and  good  Conduct  as  an  Officer. 

ALEX:  INNES, 
(late)  Inspr  Gen1  of  P.  Forces. 

I  do  hereby  Certify,  that  Major  Thomas  Barclay,  late  of 
Colonel  Beverly  Robinsons  Regiment  of  Loyal  Americans, 
served  during  the  War  in  a  very  distinguished  manner  —  I 
think  his  Zeal,  Bravery  and  good  Conduct,  which  has  been 
shown  on  so  many  occasions,  give  him  the  fullest  Claim  to  the 


28  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

favour  of  Government ;  I  therefore  beg  leave  to  recommend 
him  in  the  Strongest  manner  to  the  Commissioners  of  Ameri 
can  Claims,  as  worthy  of  every  Indulgence  that  can  be  shown 
to  him. 

OL:  DE  LANCEY 
late  Adju*  Gen1  N°  Ama. 

I  do  Certify,  that  I  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Major 
Thomas  Barclay,  late  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  many 
Years  before  the  Late  dissensions  in  America.  That  he  was 
bred  to  the  Profession  of  the  Law,  and  had  entered  into  the 
practice  of  that  Profession  before  the  Troubles  began. —  That 
he  purchased  an  Estate  in  the  County  of  Ulster  on  which  he 
was  Settled,  was  very  much  respected  by  all  Ranks  of  People, 
and  had  as  fair  and  promising  prospects  of  success  as  any 
young  Gentleman  in  His  Line  of  Business. 

That  he  took  an  early  and  active  part  in  the  cause  of  Great 
Britain,  by  opposing  the  proceedings  of  the  Americans,  for 
which  reason  he  became  so  obnoxious  to  the  Leaders  in  Rebel 
lion,  that  he  was  obliged  to  quit  his  Estate  and  business,  and 
fly  to  the  Kings  Army  in  the  Latter  part  of  the  year  1776. 

That  in  March  1777,  He  joined  the  Loyal  American  Regi 
ment  as  Captain,  and  by  his  great  exertions  and  activity  was 
very  serviceable  in  raising  that  Corps,  in  which  he  served 
as  Captain  till  the  Month  of  October  following,  when  he  was 
for  his  Bravery  and  good  Conduct  at  the  Attack  and  taking  of 
Fort  Montgomery  on  the  Hudson  River,  and  for  other  essen 
tial  Services,  during  that  Expedition,  Promoted  to  the  Rank 
of  Major  in  the  Sd  Regiment;  That  he  continued  with  the 
Regiment  from  this  time  to  the  summer  of  1780,  and  was 
always  on  active  Service  either  with  the  whole  Regm*  or  De 
tachments  from  it,  and  on  every  occasion  gained  Credit  to 
himself  and  the  approbation  of  His  superior  Officers. 

That  in  the  year  1780,  when  Sir  Henry  Clinton  ordered  a 
Corps  of  Light  Infantry  to  be  formed  from  the  Provincial 
Line,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Watson,  Major  Barclay 
desirous  of  being  employed  in  the  most  active  Line  of  duty,  of- 


EARLIER  YEARS  29 

fered  his  services  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  requested  he 
would  appoint  him  second  in  command  to  Colonel  Watson, 
which  Sir  Henry  was  pleased  with,  and  gave  him  that  Ap 
pointment  j  with  this  Corps  he  went  to  Virginia  under  the 
command  of  General  Leslie,  and  from  there  to  South  Caro 
lina.  In  both  these  Provinces  he  served  with  great  Credit  and 
Reputation,  and  to  the  Approbation  of  the  different  Comman 
ders  under  whom  he  did  serve. 

BEV.  ROBINSON. 

Wilmot,  to  which  our  exiles  had  retreated  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  lies  on  the  railway  near  the  head  of 
the  pleasant  valley  of  Annapolis,  and  about  half-way 
between  the  villages  of  Annapolis  and  Grand  Pre.  It 
is  even  at  the  present  time  a  remote  and  thinly  settled 
region,  with  a  few  scattered  hamlets  and  farm-houses 
strung  along  the  course  of  the  little  river,  and  the  deep 
forest  stretching  away  from  the  hills  on  either  side. 
But  in  1783  the  forest  primeval  and  the  murmuring 
pines  and  the  hemlocks  stood  untouched  through,  the 
entire  valley,  except  where  the  clearings  reached  out 
under  the  walls  of  the  deserted  French  fortress  of  Port 
Royal.  The  long  and  desperate  struggles  between  the 
English  invaders  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Acadians  and 
their  Indian  allies  on  the  other,  were  indeed  at  an  end. 
The  banished  Loyalist  found  no  worse  enemies  than 
winter  and  rough  weather,  but  the  forces  of  nature 
were  in  their  fullest  vigor  of  resistance  and  were  not 
easily  to  be  subdued. 

Of  the  bitter  struggles  of  those  first  years  of  banish 
ment  in  the  heart  of  the  wild  forest  of  Nova  Scotia 
only  a  scanty  record  remains,  and  we  can  but  dimly 
picture  the  daily  recurring  dangers  and  privations  to 
which  these  unwilling  pioneers  were  subject ;  but  with 
a  brave  spirit  difficulties  were  met  and  overcome,  and 


30         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

children  were  born  and  grew  into  vigorous  manhood 
amid  those  discouraging  surroundings.  Major  Bar 
clay,  we  are  told,  "  with  his  own  hands  levelled  the  for 
est  on  his  new  possession,  which  gratefully  rewarded  his 
toil  and  perseverance ;  while  he  converted  the  settlement 
of  troops  into  a  respectable  society  of  which  he  soon  be 
came  physician,  pastor,  counsellor  and  judge.  By  his 
industry  in  farming,  he  supported  a  large  family,  until 
finding  his  colony  in  a  prosperous  and  orderly  state,  he 
removed  to  Annapolis  Royal  about  the  year  1789,  to  pur 
sue  his  profession  at  the  bar,  which  he  exercised  with 
great  success  through  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia."1 

As  a  successful  country  lawyer,  he  naturally  entered 
the  public  service,  and  in  1785  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  province.  On  March  20, 
1793,  he  became  speaker  of  that  body — a  post  which  he 
retained  until  1799,  when  he  removed  to  New- York. 

For  a  time  his  old  military  experience  came  again 
into  demand.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Eevolu- 
tion  fears  were  entertained  of  an  invasion  of  the  mari 
time  provinces,  and  militia  regiments  were  raised  both 
in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia.  Major  Barclay 
became  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  a  regiment,  and  for  a 
time  was  Adjutant-General  of  the  provincial  forces.2 

1  Curwen's  Journal  and  Letters,  with  me,  that  I  could  render  His 
edited  by  G.  A.  Ward,  p.  598.  Majesty  more  essential  Service  by 

2  Writing  in  1817  to  the  Foreign  raising  a  Corps  of  fencible  militia  in 
Office,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  as  to  Nova  Scotia,  which  I  did  without 
his  rank  in  the  army,  Barclay  said  :  incurring  any  expense  to  Govern- 
"  In  the  year  1793  His  Majesty  was  merit.    My  rank  therefore  is  that  of 
graciously  pleased  to  appoint   me  a  Provincial  Lieut. -Col.,  but  when  I 
Lieutenant-Colonel   to    the    Royal  draw  half  pay,  I  receive  that  of  Ma- 
Nova  Scotia  Regiment,  which  situ-  jor  of  the  late  Loyal  American  Regi- 
ation  I  held  only  a  few  months,  as  ment.     It  is  however  now  upwards 
Sir  John  Wentworth,  then  Governor  of  eighteen  years  since  I  have  drawn 
of  Nova  Scotia,  agreed  in  opinion  half  pay." 


EARLIER  YEARS  31 

These  varied  activities  are  but  slightly  reflected  in 
the  following  correspondence.  Such  letters  as  have 
been  preserved  deal  mainly  with  matters  of  current 
business,  and  rarely  touch  on  questions  of  public  inter 
est  ;  but  his  allusions  to  the  condition  of  the  Loyalists 
in  Nova  Scotia  and  the  prospects  of  the  colony  are 
perhaps  not  unworthy  of  preservation. 

TO   LIEUT.   FENWICK,    CHATHAM,   ENGLAND. 

27  October,  1790. 
SIR: 

Mr.  Cutler  on  his  arrival  in  this  Province  delivered  me  your 
favor  of  the  31st  of  August  with  Letter  Attorney  inclosed.  I 
shall  most  chearfully  undertake  the  agency  you  request,  hav 
ing  a  fellow  feeling  for  those  whose  property  is  remote  from 
their  residence  and  whose  situation  prevents  their  personal 
attendance.  Since  the  peace  in  1783  my  mother  died  in  the 
State  of  New  York  in  North  America,  and  devised  a  fourth 
part  of  her  Estate  to  my  Children  (being  myself  from  attain 
der  incapable  of  inheriting)  and  altho  she  has  been  dead  more 
than  four  years  and  I  have  written  innumerable  Letters  to  the 
Executors,  still  I  have  never  been  able  to  bring  about  a  divi 
sion  or  Sale.1  .  .  . 

Should  you  incline  to  sell  [your  farm]  you  may  let  me  know 
the  lowest  price  you  wish  it  to  go  at  as  I  will  set  it  up  at  that 
and  if  any  one  gives  more  let  him  have  it.  I  shall  want  a 

1  "Four  years"  is  a  mistake,  filled  its  duties  with  uniformity  and 
Mary  Barclay  died  on  Sunday,  June  zeal,  the  reward  of  which  she  is  now 
8,  1788,  only  a  little  more  than  two  reaping,  while  her  children  must  de- 
years  before  the  date  of  this  letter,  plore  the  loss  of  a  most  tender  pa- 
"The  hearts  of  all  who  knew  Mrs.  rent,  the  poor  a  cheerful  contributor, 
Barclay,"  said  the  New-York  Daily  and  all  her  acquaintance  a  pleasing 
Advertiser,  in  announcing  her  death,  friend."  Her  executors  were  Eg- 
"  will  testify  to  her  worth.  From  a  bert  Benson,  Samuel  Bayard,  and 
long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  John  Watts,  Jr. 
the  precepts  of  Christianity,  she  ful- 


32         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Letter  of  Attorney  ennabling  me  to  sell  either  together  or  by 
divisions,  as  it  is  possible  it  may  fetch  more  in  parcels. 

In  Countrys  like  this  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  lands 
will  increase  in  value  superior  to  the  money  at  interest.  Since 
the  year  1786  they  have  greatly  decreased  in  this  Province, 
owing  to  the  immense  number  of  Loyalists  returning  to  the 
united  States.  At  present  they  are  rather  on  the  rise.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  money  at  use  here  is  preferable  to  Lands ; 
and  ever  will  be  in  this  frozen  Zone. 

TO   WM.   STUKGE  MOORE. 

Annapolis,  7th  June,  1791. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favor  of  the  6th  April  came  to  me  the  31st  of  May.  I 
am  sorry  to  find  you  still  undetermined  about  coming  out,  and 
at  your  Silence  in  answer  to  mine  of  the  27th  of  Dec'r  wherein 
I  requested  you  to  let  me  know  how  much  I  should  bid  at 
Auction  for  you  on  the  Sale  of  the  Parrsborough  Estate  — The 
two  other  Trustees  and  myself  were  of  opinion  it  would  be 
more  satisfactory  to  Captain  Moore,  yourself  and  the  Credit 
ors  that  White  Hall  should  be  sold  at  Publick  Auction  to  the 
highest  Bidder,  than  to  you  at  the  Price  I  offered,  to  wit  £400. 
As  soon  therefore  as  we  came  to  this  determination  I  wrote 
you  and  begged  your  orders  how  far  I  should  bid  for  you  at 
the  Auction.  I  was  aware  it  was  possible  some  person  or 
other  knowing  your  demand  might  run  it  up  to  a  Considera 
ble  amount,  and  tho'  far  Short  of  the  balance  due  you,  sell 
more  than  its  present  value.  I  declined  therefore  having  the 
Auction  until  I  had  your  order  to  what  amount  I  might  bid — 
You  are  now  therefore  to  make  up  your  mind  whether  yon 
will  remove  to  Nova  Scotia  and  of  course  take  White  Hall  or 
whether  it  shall  be  sold  and  brought  in  for  you  or  not  as 
it  may  happen.  This  my  dear  sir  to  you  is  a  question  of  mo 
ment  and  I  should  advise  you  not  only  seriously  to  Consider 
it  your  Self  but  also  to  take  the  advice  of  your  friends  at 
home  on  the  Subject.  Nova  Scotia  is  neither  like  Great  Brit 
ain  or  even  Pensylvania  where  lands  bring  in  a  certain  an- 


EARLIER   YEARS  33 

nual  profit  and  expences  may  be  ascertained  to  almost  a  farth 
ing;  was  I  to  consult  my  own  feelings  and  Inclinations  I  would 
advise  you  to  come,  but  as  your  friend  who  wishes  your  Inter 
est  it  is  my  duty  to  give  you  a  faithful  detail  and  leave  you  to 
make  up  your  own  mind  —  Parrsborough  is  by  no  means  a 
flourishing  settlement,  most  of  the  half  pay  officers  settled 
there  deeply  involved  and  no  prospect  of  any  success  in  the 
mercantile  Line  —  If  your  views  are  agricultural,  I  am  satis 
fied  you  had  better  make  a  present  of  White  Hall  and  pur 
chase  a  farm  already  cultivated  than  to  undertake  the  Clearing 
of  new  lands  —  I  speak  from  experience  that  the  cultivation 
of  new  lands  in  Nova  Scotia  is  attended  with  Double  the  ex- 
pence  that  you  might  purchase  a  good  farm  for  —  To  set 
down  at  Parrsborough  for  the  sake  of  a  Good  house,  is  like  a 
hungry  man  setting  down  to  a  table  well  set  out  with  a  variety 
of  empty  plate  and  Dishes.  The  house  at  Parrsborough  how 
ever  is  not  finished  and  will  cost  at  least  £200  pounds  to  com- 
pleat  it.  No  Gentleman  in  this  Province  can  farm  to  advan 
tage.  I  speak  from  experience  and  I  believe  I  managed  as 
well  as  most  persons,  what  your  Situation  at  home  is  I  know 
not,  but  if  you  can  live  there  in  a  Comfortable  retired  manner 
without  losing  your  Capital,  never  remove  to  this  Country — 
I  have  Given  you  my  Opinion  with  a  Candour  I  conceved  ne 
cessary  and  which  to  you  I  hope  will  not  be  disagreeable.  I 
beg  however  you  not  rely  on  it  solely,  but  take  the  advice  of 
friends  able  to  give  it  you.  Let  me  know  your  Determination 
and  what  Sum  I  am  to  go  to  for  you.  Should  you  determine 
to  remain  in  England  I  would  advise  you  if  £400  is  bid  for 
Whitehall  to  let  it  go,  and  even  loose  a  part  rather  than  be  en 
cumbered  with  inproductive  place,  and  a  house  which  time 
every  day  renders  less  valuable. 


34  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   KUFUS   CHANDLEK.1 

Annapolis,  6th  Nov.,  1791. 
MY  DEAR  CHANDLER: 

Your  favor  of  the  11  Aug  and  its  duplicate  I  have  duly 
rec'd  and  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  Attention  to  my 
troublesome  commissions  and  the  affectionate  Chearfulness 
with  which  you  transact  them.  Your  Letter  I  have  shewn  to 
the  Gentlemen  of  this  place  who  Desire  me  to  return  you  their 
best  thanks  and  to  request  you  will  send  them  out  an  Engine 
of  the  size  of  No.  2  made  in  the  best  and  most  substantial 
Manner.  Also  the  extra  21  feet  Suction  Pipe. 

I  had  seen  Kinyons  determination  about  assigning  half  pay 
in  an  English  News  Paper.2  I  can  not  say  it  meets  my  ap 
probation,  nor  do  1  think  it  tends  to  preserve  bonos  mores 
in  Society.  Half  pay  is  as  Clear  a  Chattel  as  a  man  can  be 
possessed  of  ;  neither  can  I  subscribe  to  any  of  the  Arguments 
adduced  in  favor  of  those  who  oppose  its  being  assignable  — 
The  Half  pay  is  the  property  of  the  Officer  as  long  as  he  lives 
(unless  he  commits  an  act  that  excludes  him  from  it — that  how 
ever  is  out  of  the  question)  it  is  a  certain  half  yearly  income 
that  is  ascertained  to  a  fraction.  It  is  the  reward  of  past 
Services  and  his  exclusive  property.  If  this  is  the  case  surely 
he  has  a  right  to  do  with  it  as  he  pleases.  A  man  possessed 
of  a  lease  for  a  term  of  years  or  of  an  Annuity  has  a  right  to 
Assign  them  to  any  other  person  and  to  direct  the  rents  Issues 
Profits  or  money  to  be  paid  him.  When  once  his  Assign 
ment  is  made  the  Assignor  is  bound  and  cannot  make  his  Act. 
Why  then  shall  not  a  half  pay  officer  have  the  same  power? 

1  Eufus  Chandler    was    born    at  doubtless  meant ;  in  which  he  held 
Worcester,  Mass.,  in   1747;  gradu-  that  half  pay  could  not  legally  be 
ated  at  Harvard  College  in  1766,  and  assigned,  as  it  would  be  highly  ira- 
practised  law  until  the  outbreak  of  politic  to  permit  creditors  to  reach 
the  Revolution,  when  he  removed  emolumentsof  this  sort,  as  they  " are 
to  Nova  Scotia.     He  subsequently  granted  for  the  dignity  of  the  State 
took  up  his  residence  in  England,  and  for  the  decent  support  of  those 
and  died  in  London  in  1823.  persons  who  are  engaged  in  the  ser- 

2  Lord  Kenyon's  decision  in  Flarty  vice  of  it." 
v.  Odium,  3  Durnford  $  East,  682,  is 


EARLIER  YEARS  35 

It  is  because  he  is  a  fool  —  a  madman  —  or  a  Spend  thrift  — 
To  call  us  all  so  is  paying  us  a  very  bad  compliment. — The 
determination  has  only  one  Effect,  to  wit :  to  give  Men  of  that 
Class  an  Opportunity  of  being  Rogues  if  they  please  and  of 
Spending  their  pay  in  a  dissolute  Gaol  to  the  Injury  of  their 
Creditors  and  the  ruin  of  their  own  healths  and  Morals. 

Mrs.  Barclay  desires  her  best  regards  to  you  and  requests 
you  will  purchase  her  two  pieces  of  fashionable  Ribbon  to 
wear  on  her  head  round  a  Cap  —  She  is  fond  of  plain  colours, 
and  wishes  it  rather  broad.  Consult  the  taste  of  some  fashiona 
ble  acquaintance  of  yours. 

The  Wesley  Locusts  have  entered  this  province  and  are  rav 
aging  the  County  of  Annapolis.  In  particular  Cozins,  the 
Bennetts,  Seabury,  and  many  others  have  joined  them.  They 
have  erected  a  handsome  meeting  house  in  the  rear  of  Cozin's 
Lott  facing  the  street  wherein  "Worthy  Lake  lived.  One  of  the 
Preachers,  a  little  diminitive  limping  fellow,  has  so  charmed 
Miss  Henny  Cozens  (as  she  is  called)  that  she  has  married  him. 
I  am  told  he  and  all  his  family  before  him  were  beggars  in 
Shrewsbury,  New  Jersey.  His  name  is  Cooper  —  possibly  Col. 
Lawrence  may  know  him  —  I  never  heard  him,  some  Com 
mend,  others  speak  lightly  of  his  Abilities.  I  Should  however 
suppose  him  clever  from  having  preached  himself  into  Cozen's 
good  Graces  and  Fortune  and  into  his  Daughter  — 

For  the  Honor  of  Massachusetts  be  it  made  known  that  his 
Majesty's  Atty  General  at  Halifax1  in  a  late  affair  of  Honor 
has  come  off  with  flying  colours,  and  that  the  Solicitor  Gen 
eral  that  worthy  descendant  of  fair  Hibernia 2  was  obliged  to 

1  Sampson  Salter  Blowers,  born  in  Halifax.     In   1795  he  was  made   a 

Boston  in  March,  1742,  graduated  at  Judge,  and  in  1801  Chief  Justice  of 

Harvard  College,  1763,  and  died  at  Nova  Scotia. 

Halifax,  October  25, 1842,  at  the  age  2  Robert  John  Uniacke  was  Soli- 

of  over  100  years.  He  was  associated  citor-General  from  1785  to  1797.     At 

with  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy  the  date  of  this  letter,  he  was  also 

in  the  defense  of  the  British  soldiers  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  an  office 

tried  in  1770  for  their  part  in  the  he  held  from  1789  to  1793,  and  again 

Boston  massacre.     He  was  impris-  from  1799  to  1805.  He  succeeded  Mr. 

oned  as  a  Tory  during  the  Revolu-  Blowers  as  Attorney-General, 
tion,  but  soon  liberated  and  sent  to 


36        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

make  a  humble  apology  to  him.  The  dispute  was  about  a 
Negro  Man  whom  Uniacke  had  dismissed  and  Blowers  took 
into  Service.  On  this  occasion  Uniacke  said  some  rude  things 
—  Blowers  challenged  —  the  Chief  Justice  interfered  and 
bound  them  both  over  in  £1500,  notwithstanding  which 
Blowers  wrote  Uniacke  he  was  ready  to  break  his  Bonds  and 
meet  him, —  that  Satisfaction  he  would  have  sooner  or  Later. 
This  determined  Conduct  so  frightened  Uniacke  that  he 
begged  pardon. 

We  are  very  gay  here  this  Winter  —  Assemblies  once  a  fort 
night  and  a  Weekly  Club.  Annapolis  is  still  the  seat  of  Har 
mony  and  friendship,  I  wish  I  could  add  wealth. 

I  have  written  this  in  a  small  hand  to  comprehend  all  I  had 
to  say  on  a  sheet.  Give  my  sincere  love  to  your  father,  may 
you  and  he  enjoy  many  years  of  uninterrupted  health  and 
happiness  is  the  sincere  wish  of 

your  very  affectionate 
and  faithful 

THO  BARCLAY. 

TO    BEOOK    WATSON    &    CO. 

Annapolis,  13th  January,  1792. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

In  an  accidental  conversation  I  lately  had  with  my  Brother 
in  Law  Mr.  Stephen  De  Lancey,  I  discovered  that  Col.  Dundas 
and  Jeremy  Pemberton  Esquires  the  Commissioners  appointed 
to  examine  into  the  Losses  &c  &c  of  those  Loyalists  who  were 
resident  in  this  and  the  other  Provinces,  had  after  examining 
me  and  hearing  Witnesses  on  my  claims,  struck  out  a  part  by 
mistake  or  misinformation  to  which  I  was  most  justly  entitled 
and  for  a  loss  exactly  similar  to  which  they  allowed  Mr.  De 
Lancey  —  The  case  is  this  —  Mrs.  Barclay  (who  was  a  daugh 
ter  of  the  late  Mr.  Peter  De  Lancey)  and  her  brother  Mr. 
Stephen  De  Lancey  were  with  the  other  Children  of  Mr.  Peter 
De  Lancey  possessed  of  an  Estate  at  the  Whitehall  in  the  City 
of  New- York  consisting  of  Dwelling  Houses  Store  Houses  and 
Stables — In  1776  that  part  of  New  York  was  burnt  and  it  was 


EARLIER  YEARS  37 

generally  believed  by  the  Americans,  the  fire  happening  the 
very  night  or  night  after  the  Kings  Troops  took  possession  of 
that  City 1  —  I  clearly  proved  Mrs.  Barclay's  title  and  the  value 
of  the  Property  and  should  as  you  will  see  from  enclosed  Let 
ter  have  recd  a  Compensation  therefor,  but  for  some  misinfor 
mation  given  the  Commissioners,  or  their  not  properly  under 
standing  the  merits  of  the  Claim  —  The  expression  used  by  the 
Commissioners  in  their  Letter  (written  by  a  pro  tempore  Sec 
retary  of  theirs)  is  "  They  find  Major  Barclay  disposed  of  his 
Ground  right  after  the  division  of  the  Property  "  —  I  have  ever 
lamented  in  investigating  the  Claims  of  the  Loyalists  the  Com 
missioners  had  not  devised  a  better  mode  to  ascertain  the  jus 
tice  of  each  Loyalists  Claim  than  what  they  adopted.  It  is 
true  they  first  gave  each  of  us  a  fair  candid  and  impartial 
hearing,  but  from  this  alone  I  am  convinced  their  Judgements 
were  not  made  up,  but  that  they  from  time  to  time  procured 
private  information  and  that  ex  parte  —  This  must  have  been 
the  case  in  the  instance  I  now  represent  to  you  j  and  I  lament 
the  Gentlemen  had  not  when  they  recd  this  information,  com 
plained  to  one  of  the  Crown  officers  and  had  me  indited  for 
Perjury,  for  I  should  have  been  liable  to  the  Pains  thereof  if 
found  to  have  sworn  to  demands  I  had  no  claim  to  —  The  re 
verse  however  would  have  been  proved,  I  should  have  recd  my 
compensation,  their  informer  would  have  been  treated  with 
proper  contempt  and  perhaps  such  an  instance  would  have 
been  an  end  to  all  future  private  information  —  The  least  the 
Commissioners  could  have  done  on  this  occasion  would  have 
been  to  have  given  me  notice  and  told  me  unless  I  disproved 
the  information  I  should  receive  no  compensation  for  that  loss 
—  I  take  the  Liberty  to  request  you  will  endeavor  to  have  my 
claims  reviewed  by  some  mode  or  other  as  to  this  point  —  It  is 

1  The  fire  broke  out  at  one  o'clock  Lamb's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  Vol.  II,  p. 

on  Saturday  morning,  September  21,  135,  where  the  original  authorities 

1776.     It  began  near  Whitehall  Slip  are  fully  referred  to,  and  a  map  is 

and    spread    fast  before    a   strong  given    showing  the   extent  of    the 

southerly  wind  up  the  westerly  side  burned  district.     Cadwallader  Col- 

of  the  town  as  far  as  the  College  den,    Mrs.    Barclay's    grandfather, 

grounds.     An  account  is  given  in  died  the  same  day. 


38  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

a  matter  that  may  easily  be  seen  from  looking  over  my  claims 
in  the  reports  from  Halifax  there  the  whole  will  appear ;  and  I 
trust  the  Lords  of  the  treasury  will  when  once  they  find  I  have 
by  mistake  been  deprived  of  a  sum  the  Commissioners  in 
tended  to  report  me ;  generously  order  me  payment  —  In  1776 
the  property  at  White  Hall  I  claimed  for  was  burnt ;  for  you 
are  to  observe  I  only  claimed  for  the  buildings  not  the  Ground 
—  It  was  impossible  to  suppose  I  could  conceive  that  could  be 
burnt  —  Now  admitting  I  had  sold  the  Ground  after  the  fire, 
does  it  follow  from  thence  I  was  repaid  for  the  Loss  sustained 
in  the  buildings,  or  could  the  selling  of  the  Ground  oust  my 
claim  for  compensation  of  the  buildings  —  The  fact  however 
is  otherwise.  I  never  disposed  of  the  ground  until  the  last  of 
the  war.  In  1780  or  1781  I  do  not  recollect  which  Mr.  John 
De  Lancey  another  Brother  of  Mrs.  Barclays  asked  me  to  sell 
him  my  Wife's  share  —  I  told  him  I  did  not  know  what  it  was 
worth,  but  that  he  might  take  the  Possession  and  give  me 
whatever  he  gave  the  other  Brothers  &  Sisters  —  Nothing  more 
ever  passed  than  this  and  altho  he  might  in  1783  at  the  peace 
have  lent  Mrs.  Barclay  some  money  on  an  expectation  of  a 
purchase  of  her  share,  it  never  was  compleated  until  this  last 
Autumn  —  I  now  send  you  only  a  copy  of  the  Secretaries  Let 
ter  in  order  that  you  may  lay  it  before  the  Lords  of  the  trea 
sury  and  if  the  original  is  necessary  and  my  own  and  Mr.  John 
De  Lanceys  affidavit  to  prove  when  I  disposed  of  the  Ground 
and  how  many  years  after  the  Loss  was  incurred  —  Let  me 
know  and  they  shall  be  sent  —  I  feel  myself  much  hurt  at  this 
part  of  the  Claim  being  rejected  as  it  in  some  measure  reflects 
on  my  veracity  and  Candor  5  which  except  in  this  instance 
has  never  been  doubted  —  If  it  can  be  ascertained  the  Commis 
sioners  have  been  guilty  of  a  palpable  mistake,  I  trust  the 
treasury  will  ever  be  ready  to  rectify  it  — 


EARLIER  YEARS  39 

FKOM    JOHN    WATTS.1 

New-York,  20  August,  1792. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  lately  was  favored  with  your  Letter  of  the  2nd.  July  last 
and  delayed  answering  it  till  I  could  inform  you  that  the  sale 
of  your  Jersey  Land,  which  was  then  pending1,  should  be  car 
ried  fully  into  execution,  tho7 1  had  taken  for  granted  that  Mr. 
Creighton  to  whom  you  had  written  in  respect  to  that  Busi 
ness  would  have  made  you  acquainted  from  time  to  time  of  the 
State  of  it.  This  land  has  been  sold  for  £110.  The  money 
rec'd  by  Mr.  Creighton  &  paid  by  him  to  Childs,  who  has  exe 
cuted  a  Bond  of  Indemnity  in  the  manner  you  desired. 

The  Corps  you  are  now  raising  will  not  I  presume  make  it 
requisite  for  you  to  leave  Home  and  in  course  you  will  derive 
every  advantage  without  much  inconvenience. 

The  People  in  general  of  these  States  are  much  attached  to 
the  Cause  of  France,  altho'  the  excesses  committed  there  in  the 
prosecution  are  much  lamented.  However  our  Government  as 
well  as  the  People  in  general  are  for  a  strict  Neutrality  consis 
tent  with  our  existing  Treaties.  We  have  for  a  fortnight  past 
had  a  large  french  fleet  in  our  Harbour,  in  which  many  of  the 
unhappy  people  from  the  Cape  have  come  Passengers  who  are 
in  the  most  distressed  Situation  and  must  be  provided  for  at 
the  Expense  of  the  Publick.  The  Crews  of  the  fleet  have  con 
ducted  themselves  in  the  most  peaceable  manner  towards  the 
Citizens.2 

The  Lots  in  this  City  have,  as  you  mention,  risen  greatly  in 
Value,  much  beyond  what  I  had  any  expectation  of,  I  own  no 
property  in  the  City  except  the  House  I  live  in.3  House 
Rents  &  the  expences  of  Living  in  this  City  have  for  some 

1  John  Watts  had,  notwithstand-  Congress.     He   died  in   1830,   aged 

ing  his  close  connection  with  the  eighty-seven. 

chief  Loyalists,  maintained  a  neutral  2  For  an  account  of  the  arrival  of  the 

position  during  the  Revolution.     At  French  fleet  bringing  refugees  from 

the  date  of  this  letter  he  was  Speaker  Cape  Fran£ois  (Hayti)  see  McMas- 

of  the  New-York  Assembly.     From  ter's  Hist,  of  U.  S.,Vol.  II,  pp.  123-125. 

1793  to  1795  he  was  a  member  of  3  No.  3  Broadway. 


40  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

time  past  been  constantly  on  the  Rise  and  it  is  unaccountable 
How  People  afford  to  live  in  the  manner  they  do.  However  so 
it  is,  that  we  see  no  Diminution  of  the  Style  of  Living  and 
hear  of  no  Failures. 

My  family  are  all  well,  I  have  been  (but  not  with  my  good 
will)  in  town  the  whole  summer  which  hitherto  has  been  un 
commonly  hot.  As  I  am  not  in  Business  It  would  not  only  be 
Agreeable  but  an  object  of  oeconomy  to  me  (which  you  know  is 
material  in  a  large  family)  to  reside  in  the  Country,  which  my 
wife  does,  about  6  or  7  Months  in  the  year. 

I  have  not  heard  from  my  Brother  Stephen 1  for  two  years 
past,  but  frequently  hear  of  him  and  that  he  is  well.  I  am  in 
the  bad  Habit  of  not  writing  any  one,  unless  Business  makes 
it  requisite,  in  course  our  Correspondence  is  very  much  Inter 
rupted. 

I  am  etc. 

JOHN  WATTS. 


TO   MR.   FINDLAYSON. 

Annapolis  28  Aug  1793 
SIR 

The  Revd  Dr  Brown  of  Halifax  has  advised  me  to  write 
you  on  the  subject  of  procuring  from  Scotland  a  Gentleman 
as  a  private  Tutor  to  my  Children,  and  has  been  so  good  as  to 
promise  to  send  this  under  Cover  to  you  stating  the  Conver 
sation  and  describing  what  kind  of  Person  I  wish. —  Con 
vinced  that  Cultivation  of  the  human  mind,  is  one  of  the  first 
Objects  of  your  Wish,  I  trust  you  will  not  deem  this  trouble 
some  or  impertinent,  altho'  it  comes  from  a  person  who  nei- 

1  Stephen  Watts  was  Major  in  Sir  or  three  days  after  the  "battle  by 

John  Johnson's  Royal  Greens,  a  de-  some  Indian  scouts,  and  carried  to 

tachment  of  which  he  commanded  the  British  camp.     He  subsequently 

at  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  where  he  went  to  England,  where  he  married 

was  desperately  wounded  and  left  a  Miss  Nugent,  and  where  the  rest 

for  dead.     He  was  found  alive  two  of  his  life  was  spent. 


EARLIER  YEARS  41 

ther  has   or  probably  ever  will  have  the  pleasure  of  your 
Acquaintance. — 

In  Nova  Scotia  we  have  two  public  Seminaries,  one  at  Hali 
fax  the  other  at  Windsor,  both  of  which  are  tolerably  well  fitted 
with  Professors  and  tutors.  The  Expense  however  of  send 
ing  a  number  of  Children  to  either  of  those  places,  exceeds 
my  limited  Circumstances ;  and  in  this  Village  we  have  not 
even  a  decent  School,  where  the  younger  Children  can  receive 
the  principal  of  Education — I  have  10  Children,  six  of  whom 
are  of  Ages  fit  to  receive  Instruction,  and  the  two  eldest  of 
them  tolerably  advanced  in  Lattin,  Geography,  Arithmetic 
&.  &.  and  am  anctious  they  should  have  their  education 
compleated  under  my  own  Roof,  as  being  less  expensive  and 
at  the  same  time  affording  me  a  better  opportunity  of  estab 
lishing  their  morals  and  improving  their  manners — Dr.  Brown 
thinks  it  very  probable  you  may  procure  me  a  Gentleman 
agreeable  to  my  wishes. —  The  utmost  sum  I  can  go  to  will 
be  thirty  pounds  Sterling  per  Annum  with  washing  bord  and 
lodging  in  my  family  —  The  English,  Lattin  and  French 
Language  if  possible,  I  wish  my  Children  to  be  well  founded 
in,  together  with  a  good  Mathematical,  Geographical,  Astro 
nomical  and  Historical  Education,  If  therefore  you  can  pro 
vide  for  me  a  person  duly  qualified  to  teach  my  Children  as 
above  mentioned ;  and  who  is  willing  to  come  at  the  salary 
mentioned  you  will  do  me  a  favor. —  The  Gentleman  must  be  at 
the  expense  of  his  own  passage,  but  as  it  may  not  be  convenient 
for  him  to  advance  the  money  I  now  enclose  you  a  draft  on  my 
agent  in  London  for  £25  Sterling  which  you  will  have  the 
goodness  to  pay  him  in  advance  if  necessary — This  however 
you  may  add  by  way  of  inducement  that  in  case  the  Gentleman 
remains  four  years  with  me,  I  will  repay  him  his  passage  money. 
— Dr.  Brown  thought  it  might  be  an  additional  inducement 
to  promise  my  interest  in  any  Church  or  Professorship  Pro 
motion — The  Gentleman  may  at  all  times  depend  on  my  Lit 
tle  Interest  and  every  exertion  in  my  power  in  his  favor.  I 
should  however  be  wanting  in  Candor  if  I  did  not  at  the  same 
time  observe,  I  at  present  saw  very  little  Prospect  of  either  in 
this  Province  j  —  and  to  intreat  him  not  to  let  any  such  prom- 


42         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ises  be  the  preponderating  weight  in  his  determination  to 
come  out.  Ships  belonging  to  the  House  of  William  Forsyth 
&  Co  of  Halifax  Merchants  sail  every  Spring  and  Autumn  for 
Halifax  and  New  Brunswick  from  Glascow  and  Greenock,  the 
Gentleman  had  best  take  passage  in  one  of  them  being  cheaper 
and  more  convenient  than  coming  up  to  London  for  a  con 
veyance  and  crossing  to  St.  Johns  New  Brunswic  will  be  pref 
erable  to  Halifax ;  Annapolis  being  only  twelve  leagues  water 
carriage  from  St.  Johns  and  Halifax  a  distance  of  a  near  one 
hundred  and  forty  Miles  land  Carriage  and  double  that  by 
water — I  shall  only  add  that  your  good  Offices  in  procuring  a 
Gentleman  of  Genius  and  Ability  agreeable  to  the  above 
description  will  greatly  oblige 
Sir 

Your  very  obedient  and 

most  humble  Servant 

THO  BARCLAY 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    TRUE    RIVER    ST.    CROIX 


the  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
had  declared  that  all  past  misunderstandings  and  dif 
ferences  were  forgotten,  and  that  the  intercourse  be 
tween  them  was  so  established  as  to  secure  perpetual 
harmony  and  peace,  scarcely  ten  years  had  elapsed  be 
fore  the  two  countries  were  again  almost  at  war.  Per 
haps  the  real  cause  of  the  bitterness  of  feeling  lay 
rather  in  the  tremendous  possibilities  suggested  by  the 
French  Revolution  than  in  the  ostensible  grounds  of 
controversy  ;  and  yet  these  were  numerous  and  serious 
enough  to  furnish  out  a  formidable  quarrel.  The  Eng 
lish  complained  that  the  debts  due  them  had  not  been 
paid,  and  that  confiscated  estates  had  not  been  re 
stored;  the  Americans  complained  of  the  carrying 
away  of  their  negroes,  of  interference  with  their  com 
merce,  of  the  impressment  of  their  seamen,  and  of  the 
failure  to  surrender  Detroit,  Buffalo,  and  Oswego  and 
other  western  posts  ;  while  the  parties  differed  as  to 
the  very  starting-point  for  the  boundary  between  their 
respective  possessions.  With  what  we  must  now  re 
gard  as  great  moderation  and  good  sense,  the  United 
States  agreed  to  a  treaty  which  gave  them  but  a  part  of 
their  demands,  and  left  other  questions  to  be  settled 
when  their  increasing  strength  should  compel  a  more 

43 


44         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

attentive  hearing.  The  general  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion  of  neutral  rights  and  the  impressment  of  seamen 
was  postponed.  The  disputes  as  to  boundaries,  British 
debts,  and  illegal  captures  were  submitted  to  arbitra 
tion.  The  western  posts  were  given  up.  Temporary 
regulations  for  commercial  intercourse  were  adopted. 

The  treaty  was  concluded  on  November  19, 1794,  and 
was  entitled  a  "  Treaty  of  Amity,  Commerce  and  Navi 
gation  " ;  but  it  has  been  generally  known  as  Jay's 
Treaty,  from  the  name  of  the  American  negotiator.  It 
met  with  extreme  disfavor  in  the  United  States.  Wash 
ington  hesitated  before  submitting  it  to  the  Senate ;  the 
Senate  ratified  it  only  after  long  debate  and  with  the 
suppression  of  one  of  its  articles ;  and  it  was  not  until 
October  28,  1795,  that  the  ratifications  were  finally 
exchanged. 

The  controversy  as  to  boundaries,  which  was  to  be 
partly  settled  under  this  treaty,  was  destined  to  last  for 
nearly  a  century,  for  it  was  not  until  1873  that  the  line 
between  the  British  possessions  and  the  United  States 
was  at  last  adjusted  in  its  full  extent.  Beginning  at 
the  eastern  end,  the  line  was  marked  out  from  point 
to  point  by  a  series  of  interesting  compromises  and 
arbitrations;  and  with  the  earlier  stages  of  this  long 
process  of  adjustment  Thomas  Barclay  was  intimately 
concerned. 

The  only  question  with  which  Jay's  Treaty  dealt  was 
the  starting-point  of  the  line  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
The  treaty  of  1783  had  attempted  a  precise  definition  of 
the  boundary.  It  was  to  begin  at  "  the  north  west  an 
gle  of  Nova  Scotia,  viz.,  that  angle  which  is  formed  by 
a  line  drawn  due  North  from  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix 
Eiver  to  the  Highlands";  and  it  was  to  run  thence 
"along  the  Highlands  which  divide  those  rivers  that 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  45 

empty  themselves  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence  from 
those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  The  eastern 
boundary  of  the  United  States  was  to  be  a  line  "  drawn 
along  the  middle  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  from  its  mouth 
in  the  bay  of  Fundy  to  its  Source,  and  from  its  Source 
directly  North  to  the  aforesaid  highlands."  And  the 
first  point  to  be  settled  was :  "  what  river  was  truly  in 
tended  under  the  name  of  the  river  St.  Croix ! " 

On  the  western  shore  of  the  bay  of  Fundy,  west  of 
the  St.  John's  River,  two  considerable  streams  fall  in 
from  the  north.  The  easternmost  still  bears  the  Indian 
name  of  Magaguadavic,  and  it  was  this  which  the 
American  Government  claimed  as  the  true  St.  Croix. 
The  westernmost,  known  in  its  various  parts  as  the 
Schoodic  and  Chiputneticook,  was  the  one  on  which 
Great  Britain  insisted;  and  the  matter  was  further 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  this  river  branches  out 
into  a  tangle  of  smaller  rivers  and  lakes,  so  that  if  this 
was  indeed  the  St.  Croix  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  fix 
its  source.  The  difference  of  opinion  involved  an  ex 
tensive  territory.  The  mouths  of  the  two  rivers  are 
some  nine  miles  apart,  while  the  northerly  lines  to  be 
run,  according  to  the  extreme  pretensions  of  the  two 
parties,  lay  full  fifty  miles  distant  from  each  other. 
The  territory  involved  in  this  dispute  covered  six  or 
seven  thousand  square  miles. 

By  the  fifth  article  of  Jay's  Treaty  the  question  was 
referred  to  the  decision  of  three  Commissioners — one  to 
be  appointed  by  the  King,  one  by  the  President,  and 
one  by  agreement  between  the  two  first  named ;  and  in 
case  they  were  unable  to  agree  the  third  Commissioner 
was  to  be  selected  by  lot.  The  Commissioners  were  to 
make  a  written  award,  deciding  w^hich  was  the  River  St. 
Croix  intended  by  the  treaty  of  1783  and  describing  it 


46         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

throughout,  and  particularly  fixing  the  latitude  and 
longitude  of  its  mouth  and  of  its  source.  The  Commis 
sioners  were  to  meet  at  Halifax,  and  were  empowered 
to  appoint  a  secretary  and  employ  such  surveyors  or 
other  persons  as  they  should  judge  necessary.  And 
both  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  agreed  "  to 
consider  such  decision  as  final  and  conclusive,  so  as 
that  the  same  shall  never  thereafter  be  called  into 
question,  or  made  the  subject  of  dispute  or  difference 
between  them." 

Under  this  article  of  the  treaty,  the  King  appointed 
Thomas  Barclay;  General  Washington  appointed  David 
Ho  well;1  and  the  two  agreed  upon  Egbert  Benson2 
as  the  third  Commissioner.  The  Commission  met 
for  the  first  time  at  Halifax  on  August  22,  1796.  A 
unanimous  agreement  was  finally  reached,  and  the 
award  of  the  Commission  was  signed  at  Providence, 
R.  L,  on  October  25,  1798. 

FKOM   LORD    GRENVILLE. 

Downing  Street,  March,  179G. 

SIR 

Herewith  you  will  receive,  a  Commission  under  the  Great 
Seal  appointing  you  His  Majesty's  Commissioner  for  the  pur- 

1  David  Howell  was  born  in  New  York,  June  21,  174G,  and  was  gradu- 
Jersey,   January   1,   1747,  and  was  ated  from  King's  College  in    1765. 
graduated  at  Princeton  in  1766.    He  He  was  the  first  Attorney-General 
became   Professor  of   Mathematics  of  New-York,  member  of  Congress 
and  Natural  History  at  Brown  Uni-  from   1784    to   1788,  and   afterward 
versity  in   1769,   and   subsequently  Judge  of  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  and 
studied  law   and  lectured  upon  it.  of  the  N.  Y.   Supreme  Court.     He 
He  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  died  in  1833.    His  father,  as  we  have 
1782  to  1785,  and  Attorney-General  seen,  was  a  half  brother  of  Thomas 
and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Barclay's  mother ;    so  that  he   and 
Rhode  Island.     He  died  in  1826.  Barclay  were  first  cousins  of  the  half 

2  Egbert  Benson  was  born  in  New-  blood. 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  47 

pose  specified  in  the  fifth  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Amity,  Com 
merce  and  Navigation  concluded  with  the  United  States  of 
America  on  the  19th  of  November  1794.  I  likewise  transmit 
you  His  Majesty's  Instructions  for  the  regulation  of  your  con 
duct  in  the  situation  in  which  you  are  to  be  employed.1 

I  am,  etc., 

GRENVILLE. 

TO  LOED  GEENVILLE. 

New  York,  2  30th  May,  1796. 
MY  LORD 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  Lord 
ships  Dispatch  of  the  6th  of  March  last  with  His  Majesty's 
Commission  under  the  great  seal  appointing  me  His  Majesty s 
Commissioner  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  fifth  article  of 
the  Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  concluded  be 
tween  His  Majesty  and  the  united  states  of  America  on  the 
19th  of  Novr.  1794;  and  the  Royal  Instructions  under  His  Ma- 
jestys  privy  Seal  for  my  guidance  and  direction  in  the  execu 
tion  of  the  said  Commission. 

I  intreat  your  Lordship  to  lay  at  His  Majesty  s  feet  my  most 
humble  acknowledgements  for  this  instance  of  his  gracious 
Favor,  and  beg  I  may  be  permitted  to  assure  your  Lordship 
that  I  shall  by  a  punctual  and  diligent  attention  to  the  duty 
committed  to  me  endeavor  to  merit  this  mark  of  His  Majestys 
Confidence. 

Private  Business  has  led  me  to  this  City ;  at  which  place  I 
received  your  Lordships  dispatch  by  the  march  pacquet  on  the 
10th  of  this  Month,  and  conceiving  an  interview  with  Mr. 
Liston  his  Majestys  Plenipotentiary  residing  in  Philadelphia 
necessary  previous  to  my  departure  for  Halifax,  I  immediately 
took  post  for  that  purpose.  Mr  Liston  had  nothing  particular 

1  These  instructions  are  purely  the  persons  named  in  the  act  of  at- 

formal ;  they  bear  date  March  5,  tainder  of  1779,  and  who  had  there- 

1796.  by  been  banished  from  the  State, 

<2  By  an  act  of  the  New- York  Leg-  were  permitted  to  return  and  re- 

islature,  Chap.  68,  Laws  of  1792,  all  side  within  it. 


48         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

to  communicate:  But  Mr.  Bond  has  furnished  me  with  a  Copy 
of  a  Brief  or  Case  which  he  assures  me  is  much  relied  on  by 
the  American  Ministers  as  conclusive  in  favor  of  the  United 
States  in  deciding  the  question  relative  to  the  River  St.  Croix: 
Copies  of  which  Mr.  Listen  transmitted  to  your  Lordship  while 
I  was  in  Philadelphia.  If  Mr.  Bonds  information  is  correct  the 
possession  of  this  case  will  be  of  material  consequence,  for  al 
though  it  contains  many  stubborn  facts,  (at  least  stated  as 
such)  still  a  knowledge  of  the  defence  intended  to  be  set  up 
will  enable  me  to  provide  applicable  proof  to  rebut  the  Claim. 
On  a  perusal  of  the  paper  alluded  to,  if  anything  occurs  to 
your  Lordship,  which  you  may  deem  of  consequence  I  shall 
esteem  it  a  favor  to  be  honored  with  your  sentiments 
thereon. 

General  Knox,  the  Commissioner  originally  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  having  declined  acting, 
another  has  been  named,  whose  assent  had  not  arrived  when 
I  was  in  Philadelphia.  The  American  Secretary  of  State  has 
been  notified  of  my  being  Commissioned  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  and  Mr.  Liston  will  forward  me  the  earliest  informa 
tion  of  the  American  Commissioners  appointment  and  ac 
ceptance. 

I  shall  repair  without  loss  of  time  to  Halifax  and  there  wait 
the  arrival  of  the  American  Commissioner,  collecting  in  the 
mean  time  every  document  and  information  that  may  be  use 
ful  in  deciding  the  question  his  Majesty  has  been  pleased 
to  commit  to  nay  Charge. 


FROM   MR.  PICKERING   TO    MR.   LISTON. 

Department  of  State,  May  27th,  1796. 
SIR, 

I  had  the  honour  to  suggest  to  you,  in  conversation,  that  it 
was  desirable  that  Mr.  Barclay  and  Mr.  Howell  should  see 
each  other  before  the  departure  of  the  former  for  Halifax. 
Mr.  Howell's  commission  will  be  transmitted  to  him  by  to 
morrow's  post  5  and  I  entertain  no  doubt  of  his  accepting  it. 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  49 

Although  the  Article  of  the  Treaty  relative  to  the  River  St. 
Croix  (the  object  of  their  appointment)  indicates  that  the  first 
meeting  to  commence  the  execution  of  their  Commissions 
should  be  at  Halifax ;  yet  this  is  not  indispensable ;  and,  as 
Mr.  Barclay  is  at  New  York,  a  previous  meeting  between  him 
&  Mr.  Howell  will  be  easy,  and  certainly  useful.  Perhaps 
they  may  agree  on  the  third  Commissioner :  or  if  not,  they 
can  chuse  one  as  the  Treaty  directs.  Should  they  at  the  pro 
posed  meeting  hit  on  the  third  Commissioner,  then  the  whole 
Commission  may  appoint  a  Secretary,  and  Surveyors,  and  de 
termine  on  the  other  persons  whom  it  will  be  necessary  to 
employ.  Even  if  the  third  Commissioner  should  not  be  thus 
chosen,  it  would  seem  expedient  for  Mr.  Barclay  and  Mr. 
Howell  to  agree  on  a  fit  person  for  the  Secretary ;  but  espe 
cially,  and  what  is  of  the  most  material  consequence,  on  a  man 
of  Science  to  ascertain  with  precision  the  latitudes  and  longi 
tudes  of  the  mouth  &  the  source  of  St.  Croix;  and  whom, 
with  his  astronomical  apparatus,  it  may  be  most  convenient 
to  take  from  the  United  States. 

You  will  be  so  obliging  as  to  intimate  these  ideas  to  Mr. 
Barclay,  as  I  will  to  Mr.  Howell. 

I  have,  etc., 

TIMOTHY  PICKERING. 


TO   ME.  LISTON. 

New  York.  7th  June  1796. 
SIR: 

I  am  honored  with  your  dispatch  of  the  3d  Instant,  inclos 
ing  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  American  Secretary  of  State, 
proposing  an  interview  between  Mr-  Howell  the  American 
Commissioner  and  myself  previous  to  my  departure  for 
Halifax. 

It  is  probable  you  will  recollect  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  in  Philadelphia,  I  expressed  my  wishes  to  that 
effect  and  requested  you  to  give  me  the  earliest  notice  of  the 
appointment  that  I  might  communicate  to  the  American  Com- 


50  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS  BARCLAY 

missioner  my  being  at  present  in  this  City,  and  agree  on  some 
place  for  a  meeting  before  my  return,  conceiving  it  might  ex 
pedite  the  completion  of  the  object  committed  to  our  deter 
mination  and  in  the  hope  that  I  might  have  the  pleasure  of 
his  Company  to  Halifax.  I  shall  therefore  the  moment  I  am 
made  acquainted  by  you  of  Mr  HowelFs  acceptation  of  the  ap 
pointment,  write  him  respecting  my  return  to  Nova  Scotia 
and  proffer  him  an  interview  either  here  or  at  Rhode  Island 
which  ever  to  him  may  be  most  agreeable. 

Whatever  my  own  sentiments  may  be  respecting  the  con 
struction  of  that  part  of  the  fifth  Article  of  the  treaty  which 
directs  Commissioners  therein  named  to  meet  at  Halifax ;  I 
find  myself  so  limited  by  the  Instructions  from  his  Majesty, 
that  I  cannot  officially  proceed  on  the  Commission,  before  I 
meet  the  American  Commissioner  at  the  place  agreed  on  in 
the  fifth  Article  of  the  Treaty.  Indeed  it  would  be  improper 
for  many  reasons.  The  interview  therefore  that  I  shall  pro 
pose  to  Mr.  Howell,  will  be  of  a  private  nature  j  in  which  we 
will  freely  communicate,  and  in  all  probability  chalk  the  out 
lines  of  our  future  proceedings,  and  come  to  some  determina 
tion  respecting  the  nomination  of  a  third  Commissioner,  Sec 
retary,  Surveyors  &c.  &c. 


TO   MK.   HAMMOND.1 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia  12  July  1796. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR 

I  wrote  you  from  Philadelphia  on  the  25th  and  from  New 
York  on  the  30th  of  May  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your 
very  friendly  letter  of  the  6th  of  March  and  requesting  your 
acceptance  of  my  warmest  acknowledgment  for  recommend 
ing  me  to  his  Majesty  and  Lord  Grenville  for  the  appointment 

1  George  Hammond  —  at  this  time  secretary  during  the  negotiations  in 
Under-Secretary  of  State  for  For-  Paris,  and  British  Minister  to  the 
eign  Affairs.  He  had  been  Hartley's  U.  S.  from  1791  to  1795. 


THE   TRUE   RIVEE   ST.   CROIX  51 

wherewith  through  your  friendship  I  have  been  honored.  In 
discharge  of  the  trust  reposed  in  me  in  addition  to  every  other 
consideration,  I  shall  endeavor  to  merit  your  approbation  and 
to  afford  you  the  pleasing  satisfaction  that  your  good  offices 
have  not  been  improperly  exerted  in  my  favor. 

A  Delay  has  been  occasioned  on  the  part  of  the  Americans 
by  General  Knox  who  was  originally  named  by  the  President 
as  the  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  united  states  declining 
to  accept  the  office.  I  am  told  he  assigned  many  forcible  rea 
sons,  among  which  was  his  being  interested  in  the  question. 
In  consequence  of  his  declining  to  serve  Mr.  Howel  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island  was  appointed,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
16th  of  June  that  I  was  informed  through  Mr.  Liston  of  his 
acceptance.  It  was  Mr.  Listons  wish  as  well  as  the  American 
Secretary  of  State  that  Mr.  Howell  and  myself  should  have  an 
interview  previous  to  my  return  to  Nova  Scotia.  This  I  read 
ily  assented  to,  and  accordingly  met  him  at  Boston  on  the  27th 
of  June.  At  that  meeting  several  persons  were  named  as 
a  third  Commissioner.  Mr.  Howell  alleged  ignorance  of  the 
Characters  of  the  Gentlemen  I  proposed.  Amongst  those  he 
named  there  were  three  either  of  whom  I  told  him  I  would 
agree  to  nominate,  Judge  Benson  of  New  York  who  I  fancy 
you  recollect  when  he  was  a  member  of  Congress — a  Mr  Mil- 
ledge  of  this  province,  and  Mr-  An  til  of  Lower  Canada:  Mr- 
Howell  however  declined  the  nomination,  until  he  had  con 
sulted  the  American  Ministers.  He  also  informed  me  as  his 
appointment  was  unexpected,  he  would  not  be  prepared  to 
meet  me  in  Halifax  before  the  15th  of  August.  I  really  fear 
from  what  I  discovered  at  the  interview  we  shall  be  compelled 
to  leave  the  appointment  of  a  third  Commissioner  to  the  acci 
dental  determination  of  a  draft.  We  have  therefore  agreed  to 
name  three  able  and  respectable  Characters  on  each  side  out 
of  which  the  opposing  party  respectively  is  to  strike  the  names 
of  two  from  each  list  and  the  two  remaining  names  to  be  put 
into  a  box  and  one  drawn  out  for  the  third  Commissioner.  I 
conceived  this  the  least  exceptionable  mode  in  the  event  of  our 
not  mutually  agreeing  on  a  Commissioner. 

I  am  apt  to  think  there  will  be  a  necessity  of  procuring  some 


52         CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

documents  from  England.  I  shall  not  however  trouble  his 
Majesty s  Ministers  until  I  find  them  absolutely  necessary  and 
that  they  cannot  be  procured  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
Mn  Chipman  the  Solicitor  General  of  the  province  of  New 
Brunswick  I  am  informed  is  appointed  Agent  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain.1  I  have  written  him  to  come  to  me,  and  expect 
his  arrival  hourly.  After  we  have  consulted,  we  shall  be  able 
to  know  what  proofs  are  wanting  to  substantiate  our  claims. 
Accept  my  best  wishes  for  the.  health  and  happiness  of  your 
self  and  Mrs  Hammond  and  family. 


FKOM   ME.   BOND/ 

Philadelphia  27  July,  1796. 

(Private  and  confidential.) 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  repaired  to  New  York,  as  I  told  You  I  should,  previously 
to  the  Departure  of  the  Packet,  of  this  Month,  and  was  not  a 
little  disappointed  to  find  You  had  set  out  for  Boston,  a  con 
siderable  Time  sooner  than  You  expected. 

It  will  occur  to  You,  at  once,  upon  examining  the  Documents 
produced,  on  the  Part  of  the  United  States,  that,  in  the  Exe 
cution  of  Your  Duty  in  ascertaining  the  true  River  St.  Croix, 
you  will  have  very  little  Difficulty.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
recur  to  the  Extract  I  gave  You,  from  the  Act  of  Parliam*  and 
to  compare  it  with  the  Notes  of  our  Historiographer,  to  be 
satisfied  that  there  is  not  the  least  Ground  to  suppose,  the 
Pretensions  of  the  United  States  are  founded  in  Justice. 

1  Ward  Chipman  was  a  native  of  quaintance.  At  the  peace  he  re- 
Massachusetts,  and  graduated  at  moved  to  Nova  Scotia.  He  subse- 
Harvard  in  1770.  He  left  Boston  quently  filled  important  offices  in 
with  the  King's  troops  in  1776,  went  New  Brunswick,  and  became  chief 
to  England,  and  returned  to  Anier-  justice  and  president  of  that  colony, 
ica  about  1778,  when  he  served  in  He  died  at  Fredericton  in  1824. 
various  military  capacities,  and  2  Phineas  Bond,  British  Consul- 
doubtless  formed  Barclay's  ac-  General  for  the  Southern  States. 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  53 

I  have  convinced  the  Gentleman  who  furnished  me  with  the 
material  Paper,  of  which  You  are  in  Possession,  that  so  far 
from  impeaching  our  ancient  Boundary,  all  that  He  has  col 
lected,  serves  manifestly  to  confirm  it. 

It  seems  the  Objection,  first,  originated  in  a  Suggestion 
made  by  Govr-  Sullivan,1  that  the  true  River  St.  Croix  was 
much  to  the  Eastward  of  the  River,  which  had  been  consid 
ered  as  the  Boundary  of  the  United  States.  In  order  to  es 
tablish  this  Idea,  the  learned  Gentleman,  in  a  Book,  He  has 
lately  published,  has  prepared  a  Map  in  which  He  has  given  a 
new  &  unheard  of  Name  to  the  real  River  St.  Croix,  &  has 
called  a  little  Inlet,  on  the  East  Side  of  Passamaquaddi  Bay, 
St.  Croix  River. 

The  Fallacy  of  all  this  is,  easily,  detected,  by  examining  all 
the  ancient  Maps,  which  designate  the  Situation  of  St.  Croix 
River,  to  be  on  the  West  side  of  Passimaquaddi,  (which  Situ 
ation  the  Act  of  Parliament,  which  established  the  Bounda 
ries  between  the  Provinces  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  Nova 
Scotia,  expressly  recognizes,)  whereas  Govr-  S.,  to  favor  his 
Purpose,  has  placed  the  River  St.  Croix  on  the  East  side  of 
that  Bay.  This,  of  itself,  appears  to  me  to  be  conclusive.  I 
have  not  been  able  to  get  his  Book  here.  I  saw  it  for  a  Mo 
ment,  and  think  it  is  called  the  History  of  the  Province  of 
Maine.  It  was  published  last  Year ;  —  I  think  You  ought  to 
have  it,  and  shall  direct  the  King's  Consul,  at  Boston,  to  pro 
cure  it,  and  send  it  on  to  you,  by  the  Gentleman,  who  conveys 
this  Letter  to  You. 

I  have  some  Reason  to  believe  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  begins  to  be  convinced  there  is  no  Meaning  in 
the  Claim  it  has  instituted,  &  does  not  intend  to  urge  it,  very 
violently. 

Our  Historiographer,  is  a  little  anxious  about  his  Notes ;  —  I 

1  James  Sullivan,  then  Attorney-  phetic,  as  he  was  elected  to  that 

General  of  Massachusetts.  The  book  office  in  Massachusetts  in  1807.     As 

referred  to  is  Sullivan's  History  of  to  Sullivan's  share  in  this  business, 

the  District  of  Maine,  published  in  see  Chap,   xiv  of  Amory's  Life   of 

1795.     Bond's  error  in  referring  to  Sullivan. 
Sullivan  as  ' '  Governor "  was  pro- 


54         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

have  assured  him  that  they  can,  in  no  possible  Event,  ever  be 
brought  to  Light ;  and  that  they  are  only  to  serve,  to  furnish 
References  to  those  Documents  He  has  compiled,  which  so  ir- 
refragably,  decide  the  Justice  of  our  Pretensions. 

I  have  a  Chance  of  collecting  some  other  Information,  very 
shortly,  of  which  I  shall  apprize  You  by  the  first  safe  Con 
veyance. 

I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  you  have  received  this  Letter. 

Mr.  Liston  is  not  returned  from  the  Southward, —  I  write 

in  Haste.  I  am,  &c. 

P.  BOND. 


FEOM   MR.  BOND. 

Philadelphia,  18  Aug4.,  1796. 

(Private  &  Confidential.) 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

Inclosed  I  send  You  duplicate  of  my  Letter  of  the  27th  Ult : 
—  tho'  I,  sincerely,  hope  the  original  may  have,  long  since, 
reached  You ;  as,  with  it,  you  would  probably  have  received 
Judge  Sullivan's  famous  History  of  the  District  of  Maine 
which  I  requested  the  King's  Consul  at  Boston  to  forward  to 
You,  by  the  Gentleman  to  whom  I  committed  the  Care  of  that 
Letter. 

From  the  Suggestions  of  this  Author,  as  I  have  told  You, 
all  this  Difficulty  respecting  the  true  River  St.  Croix  has 
arisen.  In  the  Map  He  has  prefixed  to  this  Notable  Work, 
He  has,  not  only,  changed  the  Position  of  the  River  —  but  it's 
name  j —  giving  to  the  true  river  St.  Croix,  situate  on  the  West 
side  of  Passimaquaddy  Bay,  the  Name  of  Schoodic  River,  and 
to  a  little  Inlet,  on  the  East  side  of  the  Bay,  the  Name  of  St. 
Croix  River. 

As  the  Author  has  been  nominated  by  this  Government 
Agent  of  the  United  States  in  the  pending  Negotiation,  to  as 
certain  the  true  River  St.  Croix,  He  will,  independently  of  inter 
ested  Motives,  which  may,  perchance,  have  warped  his  geo 
graphical  Judgment,  be  now  influenced  by  Pride,  &  a  nice 


THE   TRUE  RIVER  ST.   CROIX  55 

Sense  of  literary  Honor,  in  maintaining  his  visionary  Posi 
tions:  But  there  seems  to  be  no  Chance  of  his  succeeding, 
since,  exclusively  of  other  Means  of  Refutation,  with  which 
You  will  be  furnished,  I  take  it  for  granted,  an  actual  Survey 
of  the  spot,  must  fix  the  River  we  contend  for,  as  the  true 
River  St.  Croix,  namely,  that  River,  which  empties  itself  on 
the  West  Side  of  Passimaquaddy  Bay: — The  original  De 
scription  of  the  Island,  &  River  St.  Croix,  seem  to  be  so  ac 
curately  defined,  as  to  leave  no  Particle  of  Doubt  upon  the 
Subject.  After  various  Delays  &  Disappointments,  I  am,  at 
Length,  in  Train  of  obtaining,  shortly,  a  very  accurate  Detail 
of  every  historical  Fact,  which  can  serve  Us,  upon  this  occa 
sion  ;  which  is  also  extended  to  a  Refutation  of  all  Judge  Sul 
livan's  material  Positions. 

The  Purpose  of  my  troubling  You,  now,  is,  to  intimate  to 
You,  that  unless  You  shall  see  Your  Way,  perfectly  clear,  in 
ascertaining  the  grand  object,  which  so  much  affects  the  In 
terests,  as  well  as  the  Credit  of  His  Majesty's  Government,  it 
will  be  expedient  to  suspend  Conclusion  upon  the  Point,  until 
You  shall  be  in  Possession  of  such  Documents,  as  will,  speed 
ily,  be  completed  here  :  For  this  purpose,  it  will  be  advisable, 
previously  to  your  leaving  Halifax,  (if  that  should  happen  this 
Autumn)  in  order  to  explore  the  geographical  Situation  of  the 
two  Rivers,  to  fix  some  mode  by  which  a  safe  Correspondence 
can  be  maintained  with  You,  from  hence,  which  appears  to  me 
to  be  most  practicable  thro'  the  Medium  of  the  King's  Consul, 
at  Boston,  with  whom  You  will  be  pleased  to  make  the  proper 
Arrangements,  seasonably :  —  As  far,  however,  as  I  can  calcu 
late,  at  present,  You  may  count  upon  having  the  expected  De 
tail,  forwarded  to  you,  at  Halifax,  by  the  first  Mail :  —  any 
other  Mode  of  Conveyance  might  be  hazardous. 

In  conversing  with  the  Gentleman,  who  prepared  the  mate 
rial  Paper  I  delivered  to  You,  I  soon  found  He  had  gone  upon 
a  mistaken  Idea  that  we  meant  to  carry  the  Western  Boun 
dary  of  Nova  Scotia,  as  far  as  Kennibeck  River,  according  to 
the  former  Pretensions  and  Claims  of  the  French  upon  Aca- 
dia — who  in  Virtue  of  Sir  Wm  Alexander's  Grant  of  the  Prov 
ince  of  Nova  Scotia,  endeavored  to  engross  not  only  the  Prov- 


56         COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

ince  of  Nova  Scotia,  but  also  that  portion  of  the  Plimouth 
Grant,  which  was  allotted  to  Him,  as  an  Individual  Member  of 
the  Company,  which  Portion  it  so  happened,  was  bounded  on 
the  East,  by  the  St.  Croix  River;  —  His  observations,  there 
fore,  tended  to  defeat  this  Westerly  Extension  of  the  Boun 
dary  of  Nova  Scotia  by  showing  that  Portion  of  the  Plimouth 
Company  Grant  assigned  to  Sr.  Wm  Alexander,  and  bounded 
on  the  East  by  St.  Croix  Eiver,  was,  as  well  by  the  Terms  of 
the  original  Grant,  as  from  prescriptive  Recognition,  within 
the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  I  am  &c. 

P.  BOND. 


FKOM   ME.   BOND. 

Philadelphia  29  Aug*  1786. 

(Private  and  Confidential.) 
MY  DEAR  SIE, 

I  write  to  You  by  a  Conveyance,  upon  which  I  place  but  lit 
tle  Reliance — &  therefore  I  shall  say  but  little.  Since  I  wrote 
to  You  on  the  18th  curr*-  I  have  procured  the  material  Paper, 
I  contemplated,  &  in  my  Opinion  it  clearly  establishes  all  we 
contend  for ;  so  that  if  the  Commissioner,  on  the  Part  of  the 
United  States  should  not  accede  to  our  Claim,  in  it's  full  Ex 
tent,  You  will  find  ample  Means  to  establish  it :  In  that  Case 
an  actual  Survey  seems  indispensable,  which,  however  it  may 
be  attended  with  some  Fatigue,  will,  in  the  result  of  it,  most 
amply  repay  all  our  Labours.  By  the  next  mail  You  are  to  ex 
pect  all  the  Communications,  You  are  to  look  for  from  hence. 
I  am  &c.  P.  BOND. 

TO   LORD   GRENVILLE. 

Halifax  30  Aug*  1796. 
MY  LOED — 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  your  Lordship  that  on  Monday 
the  22nd  Instant  I  met  at  this  place  David  Howell  Esqr  the 


THE   TRUE   EIVER  ST.   CROIX  57 

Commissioner  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  united  States  of 
America  to  settle  the  boundary  between  the  united  States  and 
His  Majestys  Province  of  New  Brunswic  under  the  fifth  arti 
cle  of  the  Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  between 
His  Majesty  and  the  united  States  of  America  and  that  upon 
perusing  his  Commission  I  find  it  differs  from  His  Majestys 
Commission  to  me  as  your  Lordship  will  see  by  a  copy  of  it 
which  I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose.    In  the  Commission  to  Mr. 
Howell  the  President  of  the  united  States  expresses  himself  in 
these  words  "and  thereupon  with  the  other  Commissioners 
duly  sworn  to  proceed  to  decide  the  said  question  and  exactly 
perform  all  the  duties  conjoined  and  necessary  to  be  done  to 
carry  the  said  fifth  Article  into  compleat  execution";  while 
in  His  Majestys  commission  to  me  it  is  declared,  "We  will 
give  and  cause  to  be  given  full  force  and  effect  to  such  final 
decision  in  the  premisses  as  by  our  said  Commissioner  together 
with  the  other  two  Commissioners  above  mentioned  or  the 
Major  part  of  the  said  three  Commissioners  shall  duly  be  made 
according  to  the  Provisions  of  the  said  Treaty.'7 — Upon  dis 
covering  this  variance  I  communicated  with  Mr.  Howell  and 
requested  he  would  report  to  the  President  of  the  united  States 
the  construction  given  to  the  fifth  Article  of  the  Treaty  in  my 
Commission  from  His  Majesty  and  that  his  Commission  might 
be  so  amended  as  to  comport  with  mine. —  He  observed  that 
his  Commission  was  framed  in  the  words  of  the  fifth  Article 
and  that  he  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty  to  suggest  an  alter 
ation  to  the  President,  neither  did  he  think  the  president  would 
make  any  •  he  at  the  same  time  assured  me  he  believed  it  the 
intention  of  the  contracting  powers  that  a  declaration  under 
the  hands  and  Seals  of  a  Majority  of  the  Commissioners  should 
be  final  and  conclusive,  that  this  was  not  his  opinion  alone,  but 
of  every  man  in  office  in  the  united  States  with  whom  he  had 
conversed  on  the  subject.1    After  this  declaration  and  from  a 
1  Notwithstanding    Mr.  Howell's    1796,  Mr.  Lee  wrote  that  the  decision 
emphatic  assertion,   it  was  a  fact    could  not  be  made  by  a  majority  of 
that  the  Attorney-General   of   the    the  Commissioners.  See  Opinions  of 
United  States  entertained  the  oppo-    Atty.-Gens.,  Vol.  I,  p.  66. 
site  opinion.  Under  date  of  July  23, 


58  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS   BARCLAY 

conviction  that  the  very  words  of  the  Article  strongly  favor 
such  a  construction,  I  have  determined  to  proceed  on  the  sub 
ject  referred  to  our  determination.  If  the  intention  of  the 
contracting  parties  had  been  that  the  whole  of  the  Commis 
sioners  should  agree  in  order  to  make  the  declaration  valid 
and  binding,  they  would  have  named  two  or  four  Commission 
ers,  indeed  the  very  naming  of  a  third  Commissioner  imports 
that  the  acts  of  two  shall  prevail  where  the  three  are  not 
agreed.  Should  your  Lordship  differ  in  Sentiment  with  me 
my  commission  may  be  restricted,  as  Mr.  Howell  has  agreed 
not  to  require  a  copy  until  the  declaration  is  engrossed  and 
ready  to  be  executed.  He  has  written  to  the  American  Secre 
tary  of  State  for  a  certified  Copy  of  His  Commission  which 
shall  be  forwarded  to  your  Lordship  the  first  Pacquet  after  I 
receive  it. 

The  American  Commissioner  and  myself  after  several  Com 
munications  have  this  day  agreed  in  the  choice  of  Egbert  Ben 
son  of  the  City  of  New  York  Esqr  as  the  third  Commissioner 
— A  Gentleman  of  Ability,  Candor  and  Integrity  and  in  whose 
impartiality  I  have  the  utmost  confidence.  His  appointment 
will  be  forwarded  to  him  by  a  conveyance  which  sails  to-mor 
row.  The  Agents  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  and  the  united 
States  that  no  time  may  be  lost  will  proceed  immediately  to 
Pasamaquaddy  to  effect  accurate  Surveys  of  the  two  Rivers  in 
dispute  the  Scoodiac  and  the  Magaguadavic. 

I  have  industriously  exerted  myself  since  I  had  the  honor  of 
receiving  his  Majestys  Commission  in  procuring  for  the  Con 
sideration  of  Mr.  Chipman  his  Majestys  Agent  such  papers 
proofs  and  documents  as  could  throw  light  upon  the  subject 
in  controversy,  but  I  find  his  zeal  and  industry  in  the  fulfill 
ment  of  the  duties  of  his  appointment,  and  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  subject  will  relieve  me  from  every  appre 
hension  that  anything  will  be  omitted  in  procuring  or  arrang 
ing  the  evidence  in  support  of  the  Claim  of  the  British  Gov 
ernment  which  can  in  any  degree  tend  to  elucidate  their  just 
ness  or  force  —  I  understand  from  him  that  he  has  expressed 
to  Governor  Carleton  his  wish  to  be  furnished  with  Champ- 
lains  Voyages,  Purchases  Pilgrim  or  Collection  of  Voyages,  and 


THE  TRUE   RIVER  ST.   CROIX  59 

L'Escarbot  as  in  them  or  some  of  them  is  contained  a  particu 
lar  description  of  the  Isle  of  St.  Croix  resorted  to  and  named 
by  the  Sieur  de  Monts  in  1604  from  whence  the  river  in  ques 
tion  took  its  name  and  which  island  Mr.  Chipman  is  confident 
from  the  description  of  it  in  some  extracts  from  L'Escarbot 
with  which  it  has  fortunately  been  in  my  power  to  furnish 
him,  he  has  discovered  upon  viewing  the  place  to  be  actually 
situated  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  River  which  is  claimed  on 
the  part  of  His  Majesty  to  be  the  River  St.  Croix  truly  in 
tended  by  the  treaty  of  Peace.1  He  informs  me  he  has  also 
requested  to  be  furnished  with  Copies  of  the  Acts  of  Parlia 
ment  of  Scotland  the  records  of  which  are  kept  in  the  Castle 
of  Edinburgh  by  which  the  two  Provinces  of  Alexandria  and 
Caledonia  into  which  the  Country  of  Nova  Scotia  granted  to 
Sir  William  Alexander  are  established  and  confirmed,  as  he 
conceives  it  probable  that  in  those  Acts  the  River  St.  Croix  may 
be  ascertained  by  a  more  particular  description  than  the  Grant 
to  Sir  William  Alexander  contains  —  As  a  hearing  of  the 
Agents  upon  the  question  will  be  deferred  until  the  Surveys 
are  compleated  of  the  Rivers  claimed  as  the  boundary  on  the 
part  of  the  respective  Governments  there  will  be  time  without 
creating  any  additional  delay,  to  cause  him  to  be  furnished 
with  these  Documents,  and  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  men- 


1  "  Quittant  la  riviere  Sainct  lean,  ile  de  la  retraite  des  Francois  flit 

ils  vindrent  suivant  la  cote  a  vingt  appelee    SAINCTE-CROIX,    a    vingt- 

lieues  de  la  en  vne  grande  riviere  cinq  lieues  plus  loin  que  le  Port- 

(qui  est  proprement  mer)  ou  ils  se  Royal.    .     .     .     Ladite  ile  a  environ 

camperent  en  vne  petite  ile  size  au  demie  lieue  de  tour,  et  au  bout  du 

milieu  de   cette   riviere,   que  ledit  cote  de  la  mer  il  y  a  vn  tertre  et 

sieur  Champlein  avoit  este  reconoi-  comme    vn  ilot   separe,    ou    estoit 

tre.    Et  la  voyant  forte  de  nature  et  place  le  canon  dudit  sieur  de  Monts, 

de  facile  garde,  joint  ~que  la  saison  et  la  aussi  est  la  petite  chappelle 

commen9oit  a  se  passer,  et  partant  batie  a  la  Sauvage.    Au  pied  d'icelle 

f  alloit  penser  de  se  loger  sans  plus  il  y  a  des  moules  tant  que  c'est  mer- 

courir,  ils  resolurent  de  s'y  arreter.  veilles,  lesquelles  oupeutamasserde 

.     .     .     Et  d'autant  qu'a  deux  lieues  basse  mer,  mais  elles  sont  petites." 

au  dessus  il  y  a  des  ruisseaux  qui  Lescarbot,  Histoire  de  la  Novvelle 

viennent  cornme  en  Croix  se  dechar-  France,  Liv.  IV,  Chaps,  iii  and  v. 
ger  dans  ce  large  bras  de  mer,  cette 


60         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

tion  it  for  your  Lordships  Consideration  lest  Governor  Carle- 
tons  letter  should  not  be  forwarded  in  season  to  go  by  this 
Conveyance. 


FKOM   MR.   BOND. 

Philadelphia  6  Septr.  1796. 

(Private  &  Confidential^ 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Inclosed  I  beg  leave  to  forward  to  You,  Duplicate  of  my 
Letter  of  the  29th  Ult ;  sent  by  a  Cartel  Ship,  &  written  at  the 
Moment  of  her  Departure.  Having  now  a  much  safer  Con 
veyance  by  the  Packet,  I  can  with  more  Propriety,  enlarge 
upon  the  Nature  of  the  other  material  Paper  I  have  procured, 
of  which  Mr.  Listen  has  been  in  Possession  some  (Jays.  It  is 
rather  a  tedious  Compilation,  but  it,  undoubtedly,  discovers  a 
very  extensive  Knowledge  of  Historical  Facts,  applied  to  the 
Subject,  confirming,  by  a  vast  variety  of  Documents  &  Obser 
vations,  the  Location  of  the  River  St.  Croix  —  and  clearly  re 
futing  all  that  has  been  said,  upon  the  Point,  by  a  certain  Au 
thor,  who  is  raised  to  the  High  Station  of  Agent  for  the  United 
States,  in  the  pending  Negotiation. 

Judging  from  the  vague  &  fallacious  Positions  which  this 
Author,  under  the  Effect  of  rooted  Prejudice,  or  of  Interest, 
has  thought  fit  to  advance,  we  have  little  to  expect  from  the 
Candor  of  the  Man,  in  executing  the  Duty  assigned  to  Him. 
It  is  not  perhaps  too  much  to  impute  the  Dispute  as  to  the 
true  River  St.  Croix,  to  the  Author  of  the  History  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Maine,  encouraged  by  Persons,  who  have  sinister 
views  to  gratify,  by  extending  the  Eastern  Boundary  of  the 
United  States  beyond  the  river  St.  Croix,  which  Great  Britain 
has  uniformly  considered,  as  the  Western  Boundary  of  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia  j  and  whose  Features  are  so  well  des 
ignated  in  ancient  History,  (without  resorting  to  the  Acquies 
cence  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Vicinity,)  as  not  to  admit  of  a 
Doubt  on  this  Point,  at  this  late  Day. 


THE  TRUE  RIVER  ST.   CROIX  61 

My  best  wishes  always  attend  You  —  may  Success  and  Rep 
utation  result  from  Your  present  Efforts 

I  am  &c.  P.  BOND. 


TO   MB.   TURNER.1 

Annapolis  18th  October  1796. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  — 

An  application  having  been  made  to  me  by  Mr  Schuyler 
Livingston  for  my  assent  to  his  being  married  to  my  daugh 
ter,  who  had  for  several  years  resided  with  her  Aunt  at  New 
York  for  the  purpose  of  completing  her  education  —  I  deter 
mined  notwithstanding  my  friends  had  assured  me  the  con 
nection  was  advantageous  and  every  way  agreeable,  to  go  and 
judge  for  myself,  previous  to  giving  my  consent.2 

As  soon  therefore  as  the  Governor  had  adjourned  the  house 
of  Assembty  (about  the  middle  of  April  last)  I  embarked  for 
the  States,  on  board  the  Earl  of  Moira,  with  which  Sir  John3 
had  politely  accommodated  me  and  arriving  at  Boston  in  four 
days,  went  from  thence  to  New  York  by  land. —  Having  on 
particular  enquiry  ascertained  the  connection  requested  to  be 
every  way  eligible,  I  consented  to  the  Union,  and  on  the  17th 
of  June  in  order  that  I  might  be  present,  the  marriage  of  my 
daughter  and  Mr  Livingston  was  solemnized  at  her  Aunts 
Seat  about  16  Miles  from  New  York  —  Ten  days  after  this  I 
set  out  on  my  return  for  Nova  Scotia  and  got  home  about  the 
5  of  July. —  As  soon  as  Messrs  Fouman  and  Grassie  heard  of 
my  arrival  they  forwarded  me  your  favor  of  the  21  of  March 
last,  inclosed  with  a  pacquet  from  Mr  Watson  &  another  from 
the  house  —  My  time  has  been  ever  since  so  totally  occu- 

1  John  Turner  was  a  partner  in  Schuyler  Livingston's  mother  was 

the  house  of  Brook  Watson  &  Co.  Cornelia   Schuyler.      The   wedding 

2  Schuyler  Livingston  was  born  took  place  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Cox, 

September  24,    1772.     He   was   the  who  was   Anne    De    Lancey,  Mrs. 

son  of  Walter  Livingston,  who  was  Barclay's  sister, 

the     son     of    Robert     Livingston,  3  Sir  John  Wentworth,  Governor 

the  third  proprietor  of  the  manor,  of  Nova  Scotia. 


62         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

pied  in  and  about  the  execution  of  the  Commission  wherewith 
His  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  Honor  me,  that  I  have  not 
really  had  a  leisure  moment  to  attend  to  my  private  concerns. 
—  I  am  now  but  just  returned  from  S*  Andrews  Passama- 
quady  where  the  Commissioners  have  held  their  first  meeting 
on  the  question  referred  to  them,  it  appeared  the  most  proper 
place,  being  part  of  the  territory  in  dispute  and  contiguous  to 
the  two  rivers  respectively  contended  for  as  the  true  S* 
Croix 

The  judicial  capacity  in  which  I  am  to  act  renders  it  im 
proper  for  me  to  discuss  the  subject,  or  express  my  Senti 
ments  in  any  manner  relating  to  the  dispute,  except  in  the 
presence  of  my  brother  Commissioners  and  officially  —  Indeed 
if  these  Objections  were  removed,  the  length  of  the  case  in 
order  to  give  you  a  just  idea  of  the  controversy  wrould  too  far 
exceed  the  limits  of  a  letter  to  admit  of  it  —  After  a  Weeks 
communication  at  Halifax  in  August  last,  the  American  Com 
missioner  and  myself  agreed  in  the  Choice  of  Egbert  Benson 
of  the  City  of  New  York  Esq1'  as  the  third  Commissioner  —  A 
Gentleman  of  undoubted  Ability  and  Integrity,  and  who  from 
being  a  near  relation  was  brought  up  in  my  fathers  family, — 
I  found  it  impracticable  for  Mr  Howell  the  American  Comr  and 
myself  ever  to  agree  on  any  other  person,  and  that  unless  I 
joined  in  the  appointment  of  Judge  Benson,  we  must  proceed 
to  the  unpleasant  alternative  of  balloting  for  the  third  Com 
missioner —  To  this  I  am  extremely  averse,  from  a  conviction 
that  by  this  measure  the  question  would  be  decided  rather  by 
lott,  than  on  its  merits —  I  was  convinced  of  the  Justice  of  His 
Majesty s  Claims,  and  the  indisputable  authorities  that  could 
be  adduced  to  support  it  —  To  leave  it  therefore  to  a  ballot, 
would  be  putting  what  I  looked  on  as  a  certainty  in  hazard, 
a  game  I  by  no  means  conceived  myself  authorized  to  play. — 
It  is  true  the  American  Commissioner  gave  me  the  names 
of  two  or  three  Gentlemen  in  England,  one  of  whom  he  was 
willing  should  be  opposed  to  Mr  Benson,  but  these  Gentlemen, 
I  learned  were  warm  minority  men,  and  I  did  not  conceive  it 
probable  they  would  leave  their  pursuits  and  cross  the  Atlan 
tic,  on  such  a  question  and  under  our  nomination. —  Thus  cir- 


THE  TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  63 

cumstanced  I  judged  it  most  for  His  Majestys  interest  to  give 
up  the  only  possible  objection  to  Mr  Benson,  that  of  his  being 
an  American,  under  the  hope  of  having  a  cool,  sensible,  and 
dispassionate  third  Commissioner  —  His  future  conduct  I  trust 
will  prove  the  propriety  of  my  determination  — 

To  say  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  exertions  in  my 
favor  respecting  the  application  for  a  pension,  would  too 
faintly  express  my  feelings  —  Permit  me  therefore  to  offer 
you  my  most  grateful  thanks  and  to  assure  you  the  impres 
sions  your  kind  interference  has  made  will  never  be  effaced 
from  my  recollection  —  Mr  Hammonds  observations  were  so 
just  as  to  carry  conviction  with  them,  and  I  feel  equally 
obliged  to  him  for  the  remark  and  you  for  adopting  it  —  For 
the  present  therefore  we  will  drop  the  pursuit,  and  wait  an 
event  more  favorable  — 

I  am  happy  I  can  assure  you  that  before  the  first  day  of 
January  next  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  will  be  totally  dis- 
incumbered  of  Debt  —  It  was  a  load  that  lay  heavy  on  my 
mind,  from  the  first  day  I  became  a  member  of  the  house 
of  Assembly ;  and  my  principal  exertions  have  bent  to  free 
the  Province  from  such  chains.  You  may  rest  satisfied  that 
the  same  principles  will  induce  me  to  oppose  every  measure 
tending  to  incur  similar  embarrassments  — 


TO   ME.  BOND. 

Annapolis  24th  Octr  1796. 

(Private  &  Confidential.} 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

The  paper  you  allude  to  in  your  dispatch  of  the  7th  of  Sepr. 
came  safe  to  hand,  and  your  directions  respecting  it  have 
been  obeyed  —  Accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  your  industry 
and  zeal  in  furnishing  me  with  what  you  can  collect  and  con 
ceive  of  consequence  to  be  communicated  — And  permit  me  to 
intreat  a  continuance  of  your  good  offices  —  I  hope  you  and 
Mr  Liston  approve  of  the  nomination  of  Judge  Benson  as  the 


64  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

third  Commissioner,  who  I  know  to  be  a  man  of  Candor,  Integ 
rity  and  Abilities  and  with  whom  I  believe  from  his  intimacy 
with  Mr.  Hammond  you  are  acquainted. 

I  cannot  conclude  without   cautioning  you  against . 

He  who  betrays  faith  reposed  in  him  even  by  a  villain,  is  not 
to  be  trusted  by  an  honest  man.  His  Character  at  this  day  is 
the  same  my  worthy  father  gave  me  of  him  upwards  of  30 
years  since.  That  he  was  a  man  of  duplicity  and  not  to 
be  trusted.1 


TO   LOED   GKENVILLE. 

Annapolis  24th  Octr.  1796. 
MY  LORD— 

In  my  dispatch  No.  3  dated  Halifax  the  30th  of  August  last 
past,  a  duplicate  whereof  is  enclosed,  I  informed  your  Lord 
ship  that  the  American  Commissioner  and  myself  had  agreed 
in  the  choice  of  the  third  Commissioner  and  that  a  vessel  was 
sent  to  carry  him  his  appointment.  The  American  Commis 
sioner  and  myself  being  of  opinion  that  the  meeting  of  the 
Commissioners  at  St.  Andrews  in  the  County  of  Charlotte 
Passamaquady  (a  part  of  the  lands  in  dispute)  would  facili 
tate  the  business,  and  prevent  the  Agents  removing  from  a 
place  where  their  presence  was  necessary,  we  accordingly  ad 
journed  to  St.  Andrews  and  notified  Mr.  Benson  the  third 
Commissioner  to  meet  us  at  that  place  on  the  3rd  of  October. 
—  On  the  4th  of  October  the  three  Commissioners  having  met 
at  that  place  were  sworn,  agreeably  to  the  5  article  of  the 
treaty  by  Robert  Pagan  Esqr  His  Majestys  first  Justice  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  that  County,  after  which  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  appointed  Edward  Win  slow  of  Fred- 
ericton  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswic  Esqr  their  Secre- 

1   The    person    here    alluded    to  New-Yorker,  and   must  have  been 

seems  to  have  been  Mr.  Bond's  his-  employed  in  the  State  Department ; 

toriographer,  who  furnished  a  copy  but  it  does  not  seem  possible  now  to 

of  the  American  case  and  other  in-  establish  his  identity, 
formation.     He  was   presumably  a 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.    CROIX  65 

tary  and  received  the  claims  of  the  respective  Agents  copies  of 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  your  Lordship.  The  5th 
we  made  an  attempt  to  proceed  up  the  River  Scoodiac  claimed 
by  the  Agent  of  His  Majesty  as  the  true  St.  Croix,  but  the 
Wind  failing  we  were  compelled  to  return  to  St.  Andrews ; 
after  which  the  board  met,  confirmed  the  surveys  commenced 
under  the  mutual  agreement  of  the  Agents  and  taking  the 
future  operations  of  the  Surveyors  under  our  control  estab 
lished  rules  and  orders  for  their  direction  and  government; 
ascertained  their  pay  per  day  and  that  of  the  chainmen  and 
laborers  under  them  &c  &c.  On  the  6th  the  Commissioners 
attended  by  the  Agents  went  to  view  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Magaguadavic  claimed  by  the  American  Agent  as  the  St. 
Croix  intended  in  the  treaty  of  Peace  and  the  Island  which 
he  said  had  been  named  by  the  Sieur  de  Monts  in  1604,  Isle  de 
St.  Croix.  The  7th  we  had  a  view  of  the  Isle  de  St.  Croix  in 
the  River  Scoodiac  as  shown  us  by  His  Majesty s  Agent  with 
the  small  Island  in  its  front  and  as  much  of  the  River  as  he 
said  he  conceived  necessary  to  be  seen  to  evince  that  the  Isl 
ands  and  River  corresponded  with  the  description  given  by 
L'Escarbot  and  Champlain  french  Historians,  who  attended 
the  Sieur  de  Mouts  in  his  Voyage  to  that  part  of  North  Amer 
ica  in  1604,  *  and  on  our  return  we  examined  under  oath  in  the 
Evening  a  number  of  Indians  produced  on  the  part  of  the 
united  States  —  On  the  8th  the  board  established  rules  and 
regulations  for  authenticating  Records  and  other  public  docu 
ments  to  be  given  in  Evidence,  with  several  other  necessary 
orders  and  resolutions,  particularly  one  directing  a  survey  to 
be  made  of  the  bay  of  Passamaquady,  the  Islands  therein,  the 
Brooks  and  Rivers  that  discharge  themselves  into  it  and  all 
the  Mountains,  high  lands  or  head  lands  which  present  them- 

1  "H  nous  faut  dire  que  Pile  de  montagnes  eminentes  par  dessus  les 

Sainete  Croix  est  difficile  a  trouver  autres  aux  cotez ;  mais  de  la  part  du 

a  qui  n'y  a  este,  car  il  y  a  tant  d'iles  Nort  d'ou  descend  la  riviere,  il  n'y 

et  de  grandes  bayes  a  passer  devant  en  a  sinon  vne  pointue  eloigne"e  de 

qu'on  y  soit,  que  je  m'etonne  cornme  plus  de  deux  lieue's." 

on  avoit  penetre  si  avant  pour  1'al-  Lescarbot,  Liv.  IV,  Chap.  v. 
ler  trouver.    II  y  a  trois  ou  quatre 
5 


66         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

selves  to  view  in  proceeding  up  the  bay  to  either  of  the  rivers 
in  question,  representing  their  Shapes  and  appearances  re 
spectively  as  they  make  or  appear  in  proceeding  to  and  up 
each  of  the  Rivers  in  question. 

Having  examined  the  Surveyors  as  to  the  probable  period 
when  their  surveys  would  be  completed  and  finding  they  could 
not  be  effected  until  late  the  next  Autumn  and  the  Agents 
having  stated  by  a  joint  memorial  that  it  would  be  out  of  their 
power  to  deliver  in  the  Arguments  on  which  their  claims  were 
founded  until  they  were  possessed  of  these  Surveys,  the  board 
adjourned  to  the  second  Tuesday  in  August  next,  then  to 
meet  at  Boston  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  witnesses  and  to  adjourn  from  thence  to  such 
place  as  his  Majesty's  agent  should  think  necessary  for  exam 
ining  any  other  witnesses  he  might  wish  to  produce.  The 
weather  from  the  20th  of  September  to  the  8th  of  October  was 
so  unfavorable  as  to  prevent  the  Gentlemen  employed  from 
ascertaining  the  longitude  of  the  mouth  of  either  of  the  Rivers 
and  the  Season  being  far  advanced  we  gave  up  the  pursuit 
until  next  Spring.  The  Surveyors  will  probably  continue 
at  Work  to  the  10th  of  November,  at  all  Events  they  will 
remain  in  the  field  until  driven  in  by  Snow  and  extreme  cold. 

Private.  I  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  to  your  Lordship 
a  circumstance  which  probably  will  be  laid  before  you  by  His 
Majestys  Agent  through  Governor  Carleton,  but  as  an  acci 
dent  may  happen  to  his  dispatches  and  no  time  ought  to  be 
lost,  I  presume  to  suggest  to  your  Lordship,  what  certainly 
with  more  propriety  would  come  from  him.  The  Agent  of 
the  united  States  has  related  to  His  Majestys  Agent  that  the 
Plenipotentiaries  who  concluded  and  signed  the  definitive 
treaty  of  Peace  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of 
America  at  Paris  in  the  year  1783,  had  in  contemplation  and 
believed  that  the  River  called  the  River  St.  Croix  in  the  treaty 
was  the  first  River  to  the  Westward  of  the  River  St.  Johns  in 
New  Brunswic,  that  they  had  Mitchels  map  before  them  at 
that  time,  which  lays  down  the  eastermost  river  in  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquady  as  the  River  St.  Croix,  and  that  Mr.  Jay  and 
Mr.  Adams  the  surviving  American  Plenipotentiaries  and  Mr. 


THE  TRUE  EIVER  ST.  CROIX  67 

Hartley  the  British  Plenipotentiary,  together  with  Lord  St. 
Helens1  and  a  Mr.  Whitford2  who  were  then  present  will  at 
test  to  the  above  representation,  and  aver  that  the  River  next 
to  the  River  St.  John  in  New  Brunswic  was  the  one  by  them 
intended  as  the  point  from  whence  the  dividing  boundary  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  the  united  States  should  commence, 
and  that  he  should  next  August  examine  Mr.  Jay  and  Adams 
on  the  subject.  What  weight  such  testimony  will  have  with  the 
Commissioners  is  not  for  me  to  suggest.  I  have  given  your 
Lordship  the  above  information,  that  you  may  if  you  conceive 
it  necessary  examine  Mr.  Hartley,  Lord  St.  Helens  and  Mr. 
Whitford  or  any  other  persons  who  were  present  at  the  forming 
and  executing  of  the  treaty,  and  advise  His  Majesty s  Agent 
what  they  will  declare  under  oath  respecting  the  same  — Also 
whether  Mitchels  map  was  or  was  not  the  chart  by  which  they 
governed  themselves — The  American  Agent  further  states, 
that  the  Source  of  which  river  shall  be  decided  to  be  the  River 
St.  Croix  truly  intended,  cannot  be  extended  bej^ond  the  flow 
ing  of  the  tide,  and  that  he  shall  establish  this  position  by  the 
decision  of  the  King  and  Council,  on  the  source  of  the  Merri- 
mac  river  in  setting  the  boundary  line  many  years  since 
between  the  Provinces  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  a  similar  determination  respecting  the  source  of 
the  Piscataqua  river. —  The  absurdity  of  the  position  is  too 
gross  to  admit  of  a  moments  hesitation  —  It  may  not  however 
be  improper  to  possess  His  Majesty  s  Agent  with  authenticated 
copies  of  all  papers  on  file,  &  the  opinion  of  the  King  and 
Council  on  the  question  of  the  last  above  mentioned  rivers. 

Although  Mr.  Chipmans  abilities  are  unquestionable  and  his 
application  intense,  still  he  wages  a  very  unequal  War  with 
the  American  Agent,  who  has  two  of  the  Council,  two  of  the 
Senate  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  Law  Counsel  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  assigned  to  assist  him  in  collecting 
documents  and  evidence  and  preparing  a  case  and  arguments 
on  this  important  question ;  on  which  a  territory  of  not  less 

1  Alleyne  Fitzherbert,  raised  to  2  Caleb  Whitefoord,  Secretary  to 
the  Irish  peerage  as  Lord  St.  Helens  the  British  Commissioners  who  nego- 
in  1791.  tiatedthepreliminarytreatyof  peace. 


68         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

than  6  or  7,000  Square  miles  depends,  part  of  which  is  invalu 
able  to  His  Majesty  for  the  masts  and  yards  it  will  furnish 
for  the  Navy. —  Under  these  circumstances  I  am  extremely 
anxious,  and  have  therefore  been  the  more  readily  induced  to 
communicate  the  above  information  to  your  Lordship,  that 
His  Majesty's  Agent  may  in  time  be  informed  of  the  facts  and 
furnished  with  every  necessary  map  and  paper  that  may  elu 
cidate  the  question,  or  enable  him  to  oppose  and  confute  the 
arguments  and  suggestion  of  the  opposing  party — 


FKOM    MK.    CHIPMAN. 

St.  John,  9th  Nov'    1796. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  feel  myself  under  peculiar  obligations  to  you  for  the  very 
interesting  and  friendly  communications  in  your  letter  of  the 
3d  instant.  I  perfectly  agree  with  you  that  the  mode  you  have 
adopted  with  regard  to  my  concerns,  bids  much  fairer  for  suc 
cess  than  any  other,  and  whatever  the  event  may  be,  I  shall 
ever  very  gratefully  recollect  your  kind  interference  upon  this 
occasion.  I  am  rejoiced  that  you  have  met  with  Popple's 
Map,  as  I  believe  from  the  description  I  have  of  it,  it  will  be  of 
great  use. — There  is  another  point  which  I  am  endeavoring  to 
ascertain,  which  if  it  turns  out  as  I  have  reason  to  believe  it 
will,  must  be  decisive  in  our  favor. — The  line  from  the  Source 
of  the  St.  Croix  you  will  recollect,  is  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace  to 
run  "  due  North  to  the  Highlands  which  divide  those  Rivers 
which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  those  which  fall  into 
the  River  St.  Lawrence.7'1  Now  by  an  inspection  of  Capt. 
Sproules  Map  it  appears  to  me,  that  a  line  drawn  due  North 
from  the  source  even  of  the  Cheputnatieook  will  strike  the 
River  Restigouche  which  runs  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  and 
of  course  falls  into  the  Gulph  of  Saint  Lawrence ;  such  a  line 
therefore  will  not  answer  the  description  in  the  Treaty,  much 
less  will  a  line  drawn  from  the  Source  of  the  Magaguadavic  or 
any  other  source  eastward  of  the  Source  of  the  Cheputnati- 


THE  TRUE   RIVER   ST.    CROIX  69 

cook, —  but  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  Source  of  the 
Scoodiac  will  run  to  the  westward  of  the  sources  of  all  the 
Rivers  that  fall  into  the  Gulph  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  will  of 
course  extend  to  the  Highlands  mentioned. — The  idea  was 
first  hinted  to  me  by  Mr.  Owen.  I  have  communicated  it  to 
Governor  Carleton,  and  requested  that  he  will  have  the  line 
run  this  winter  due  North  from  the  source  of  the  Cheputnati- 
cook  to  see  where  it  will  strike  and  that  we  may  have  evidence 
of  the  fact  if  it  proves  to  be  in  our  favor : —  and  if  it  should  not, 
I  think  such  a  line  must  be  run  hereafter  from  the  Source  of  the 
Magaguadavic,  as  I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  upon  this  princi 
ple,  clearly  show  that  this  cannot  be  the  river.  Let  me  know 
your  opinion  of  this  hint.  I  think  we  should  at  present  keep 
it  secret,  I  have  intimated  as  much  to  the  Governor. 

I  thank  you  for  your  attention  respecting  the  Cyder.  Make 
my  best  compliments  to  Mrs.  Barclay  and  affectionate  regards 
to  your  little  Flock,  and  believe  me,  &c. 

WARD  CHIPMAN. 


TO    ME.    HAMMOND. 

Annapolis,  20th  Nov.,  1796. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

The  inclosed  is  a  duplicate  of  what  I  wrote  you  in  Oct.  last. 
Two  things  have  since  occurred  which  I  think  of  moment  to 
communicate  5  the  first  of  which  I  in  treat  your  attention  and 
that  by  the  earliest  conveyance  you  will  have  the  goodness  to 
inform  me  what  Governor  Franklin  recollects  on  the  subject. 
Cap4.  Moody  the  well  known  secret  Service  man  under  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  during  the  American  War,  tells  me  he  was  in 
London  when  Mr.  Hartley  returned  from  Paris  after  executing 
the  definitive  treaty  of  Peace  in  1783.  That  he  called  on  Gov 
ernor  Franklin  to  pay  him  a  visit,  who  informed  him  that  Mr. 
Hartley  had  just  left  the  room,  with  whom  he  had  had  a  long 
conversation  respecting  the  territory  ceded  the  united  States. 
That  he  (the  Governor)  had  asked  Mr.  Hartley  why  the  Pleni 
potentiaries  had  not  made  the  river  Penobscot  the  beginning 

5A 


70  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS   BARCLAY 

boundary  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  To 
which  he  answered,  that  Doctor  Franklin  had  so  clearly  dem 
onstrated  that  the  River  St.  Croix  was  a  preferable  boundary 
being  the  dividing  limit  formerly  existing  between  Nova 
Scotia  and  Massachusetts,  that  the  Plenipotentiaries  acceded 
thereto.  To  this  the  Governor  replied  that  the  loss  of  the  in 
termediate  Country  was  of  consequence  to  Great  Britain,  and 
that  he  was  afraid  his  father  the  Doctor  had  been  too  cunning 
for  Mr.  Hartley.  Captain  Moody  is  certain  Governor  Frank 
lin  will  recollect  this  conversation,  as  he  appeared  much  inter 
ested  and  told  him,  he  and  Mr.  Hartley  had  conversed  near  an 
hour  before  his  arrival.  As  Doctor  Franklin  is  dead,  it  may 
be  of  moment  to  refresh  Mr.  Hartleys  memory  by  what  the 
Governor  recollects. 

By  the  treaty  of  peace  the  line  from  the  source  of  the  St. 
Croix  is  to  run  due  north  to  the  Highlands  which  divide  those 
rivers  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  them  which  fall 
into  the  River  St.  Lawrence.  Mr.  Chipman  His  Majestys 
Agent  has  hinted  to  me,  and  from  examination  I  am  apt  to  be 
lieve  it  will  prove  so,  that  a  line  drawn  due  North  from  the 
Source  even  of  the  Chiputnatcook,  (the  North  branch  of  the 
Scoodiac)  will  strike  the  River  Restigouche  which  empties  into 
the  Bay  of  Chaleurs  and  of  course  falls,  into  the  Gulph  of  St. 
Lawrence ;  such  a  line  therefore  will  not  answer  the  descrip 
tion  in  the  treaty,  much  less  will  a  line  drawn  from  the  Source 
of  the  Magaguadavic  or  any  other  source  eastward  of  the  Source 
of  the  Chiputnatcook.  But  a  line  drawn  due  North  from  the 
Source  of  the  Scoodiac  will  run  to  the  westward  of  the  Source 
of  all  the  Rivers  that  fall  into  the  Gulph  of  St.  Lawrence  and 
will  of  course  extend  to  the  Highlands  mentioned  —  I  shall 
unite  with  Mr.  Chipman  in  an  application  to  Governor  Carl- 
ton  of  New  Brunswic  to  have  a  line  run  this  Winter  due 
North  from  the  Source  of  the  Chiputnatcook  to  see  where  it 
may  strike,  and  that  we  may  have  evidence  of  the  fact  if  it 
proves  in  our  favor.  Should  it  not,  then  to  run  the  north  line 
from  the  Magaguadavic.  If  it  turns  out  as  I  expect,  our  cause 
will  be  essentially  strengthened,  indeed  the  question  will  be 
at  an  end.  The  result  you  shall  be  informed  of  by  the  first 


THE  TRUE  RIVER   ST.   CROIX  71 

conveyance  after  it  is  ascertained.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
hint  to  Lord  Grenville  the  propriety  of  furnishing  Mr.  Chip- 
man  with  Champlain,  L'Escarbot  &  Purchase l  with  all  authen 
tic  maps  and  a  copy  of  the  acts  of  Parliament  of  Scotland 
which  are  kept  in  the  Castle  of  Ediiiburg  by  which  the  two 
provinces  of  Alexandria  and  Caledonia  into  which  the  Country 
of  Nova  Scotia  granted  to  Sir  Willm.  Alexander  are  estab 
lished  and  confirmed,  as  they  are  material  and  as  he  is  want 
of  them. 


FKOM   ME.   BOND. 

Philadelphia  29  Novr  1796. 

(Private.) 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

I  am  now  to  acknowledge  the  Receipt  of  Your  very  inter 
esting  Letter,  with  the  Inclosures,  which  accompanied  it, 
dated  at  Annapolis  Royal  on  the  23rd  Ult :  for  which  I  thank 
You  exceedingly. 

It  appears  to  me  that  You  have  analysed  the  Business,  to 
which  Your  Commission  relates,  with  all  the  Precision  which 
was  to  be  expected  from  Your  Ability  &  Zeal: — there  seems 
little,  to  apprehend. 

For  the  present,  I  have  only  to  remark  to  You,  that  I  have 
from  long  Experience,  dearly  bought  —  formed,  precisely,  the 
same  Opinion  of  the  Man,  which  You  entertain  of  the  Person 
from  whom  many  copious  Details,  relative  to  the  Subject  in 
Dispute,  have  been  obtained.  In  the  present  Instance,  how 
ever,  let  me  do  Him  the  Justice  to  observe,  that  in  the  Com 
munications  He  made  to  me  He  did  not  conceive  He  betrayed 
any  Confidence,  which  had  been  placed  in  Him :  on  the  con- 

1  The  books  referred  to  are :"  Voy-  toire  de  la  Novvelle  France.     Par 

ages  et  Descovvertes  faites  en   la  Marc    Lescarbot."      Published    in 

Novvelle  France.     Par  le  Sieur  de  three  editions,  1609  to  1618.     "  Pur- 

Champlain,     Cappitaine     ordinaire  chas  his  Pilgrims,"  the  well-known 

pour  le  Roy  en  la  Mer  du  Ponant."  collection  of  travels  by  Samuel  Pur- 

(1619.)     This  book  contains  a  map  chas,  an  English  divine;  published 

of  the  Island  of  St.  Croix.     "His-  in  1613. 


72         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

trary,  He  professed  that  Truth,  alone,  was  the  Object  of  his 
Investigation,  and  if  that  End  were  eventually  realized,  it  was 
of  little  Consequence  to  Him,  what  the  Issue  of  the  Examina 
tion,  to  either  Party,  might  be. 

Knowing  Him  as  well  as  I  did,  there  was  little  Danger 
that  our  Cause  should  suffer  by  a  Surcharge  of  Confidence. 

I  am  &c.  P.  BOND. 


FROM   LORD    GRENVILLE. 

Downing  Street,  Decr  9th,  1796. 
SIR 

Your  several  dispatches  to  No.  3  inclusive  have  been  re 
ceived  and  laid  before  the  King  j  and  I  have  the  satisfaction 
of  informing  you  that  His  Majesty  has  been  graciously  pleased 
to  approve  of  your  conduct  in  having  proceeded  to  execute 
the  trust  committed  to  you,  notwithstanding  the  variation 
which  appears  to  subsist  between  your  commission  and  that 
which  has  been  given  to  Mr.  Ho  well  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  That  variation  is  indeed  extremely  unimpor 
tant  in  itself,  and  it  is  still  more  so  when  it  is  considered  that 
the  general  sense  of  the  two  contracting  parties  upon  the  sub 
ject  is  so  clearly  to  be  ascertained  by  a  reference  to  the  two 
succeeding  articles  of  the  treaty  which  relate  to  the  appoint 
ment  of  Commissioners  for  other  purposes  and  to  the  mode 
which  is  prescribed  for  deciding  the  questions  submitted  to 
them.  In  order  however  to  remove  all  doubts  upon  this 
point,  Mr.  Listori  is  instructed  to  state  the  variations  between 
Mr.  Howell's  Commission  and  yours  to  the  American  Minis 
ters,  and  to  propose  to  them  the  interchange  of  declarations, 
purporting  that  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States  will  con 
sider  as  final  &  conclusive  the  decisions  of  the  three  Com 
missioners  or  of  a  majority  of  them,  as  to  the  river,  which 
was  the  River  St.  Croix  intended  by  the  definitive  treaty  of 
Peace  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States.  It  must 
however  be  observed  that  in  order  to  render  the  proceedings 
under  this  Commission  comformable  to  the  principle  estab- 


THE  TRUE  RIVER   ST.   CROIX  73 

lished  for  the  others,  no  such  decision  nor  indeed  any  other 
proceeding  can  take  place  but  in  the  presence  of  the  three 
Commissioners. 

Although  I  understand  that  the  books  and  papers  specified 
in  the  concluding  part  of  your  dispatch  No.  3  have  been 
already  transmitted  from  the  Duke  of  Portland's  Office  to  Mr. 
Chipman  His  Majesty's  Agent,  I  nevertheless,  in  order  to 
guard  against  the  effects  of  any  accidents  happening  to  the 
Packet  by  which  the  other  copies  were  sent,  enclose  to  you 
those  extracts  of  the  Acts  of  Parliament  of  Scotland  which 
you  consider  as  likely  to  be  of  importance  in  the  investigation 
of  the  question  which  you  are  appointed  to  decide. 

I  am  &c.  GRENVILLE. 


TO   LOED   GKENVILLE. 

Annapolis,  8th  Sept.,  1797. 
MY  LORD 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  that  the  Com 
missioners  for  setting  the  disputed  Boundary  of  the  River  St. 
Croix  met  early  in  August  at  Boston  to  which  place  they  had 
adjourned.  Judge  Benson's  ill  health  prevented  his  travelling 
with  expidition  from  New  York  to  Boston  and  occasioned 
a  delay  in  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  seven  days. 

In  my  dispatch  No.  4  I  suggested  to  your  Lordship,  that  the 
principal  inducement  for  the  Adjournment  to  Boston  was 
founded  on  the  representation  of  the  American  Agent  that  he 
had  a  number  of  witnesses  to  examine  amongst  whom  were 
Mr.  Adams  the  now  President  of  the  United  States  and  Mr. 
Jay  the  present  Governor  of  New  York,  both  of  whom  were 
Plenipotentaries  for  effecting  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America  at 
Paris  in  1783,  and  a  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  Commis 
sioners  that  it  would  save  time  and  expense  to  meet  the  wit 
nesses  at  that  place.  On  perusing  the  Affidavits  of  the  major 
Part  of  the  witnesses  his  Majesty s  Agent  agreed  to  their  be 
ing  filed  de  bene  esse  conceiving  they  can  take  little  or  nothing 


74         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

material  to  the  present  Question.  Your  Lordship  will  recol 
lect  my  having  hinted  that  the  American  Agent  had  said  he 
should  be  able  to  prove  by  Mr.  Jay  Mr.  Adams  &  Lord  St. 
Helen£  that  at  the  execution  of  the  treaty  of  Peace  in  1783  the 
Plenipotentiaries  intended  by  the  River  St.  Croix  (the  begin 
ning  point  of  delineation  of  the  Lines  which  were  thereafter 
to  divide  the  United  States  from  His  Majesty s  Possessions  in 
America)  the  first  River  to  the  Westward  of  the  River  St. 
Johns,  and  of  course  that  the  first  River  to  the  Westward  of 
St.  Johns  was  the  river  truly  intended  in  the  treaty. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  whether  such  testimony  would 
have  been  received  by  the  Commissioners  had  it  been  offered. 
I  am  however  happy  to  add  the  Case  has  not  occurred  and 
consequently  no  question  on  that  point  has  been  agitated. 
Mr.  Jay  on  being  requested  by  the  American  Agent  to  attend 
at  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  giving  testimony  wrote  the 
Agent  a  letter  stating  that  he  would  not  depose  any  thing 
material  to  the  present  question.  That  all  that  he  knew  was 
that  Mitchels  map  was  the  only  one  the  Plenipotentiaries  had 
before  them  or  used  in  setting  the  boundaries  and  that  the 
river  described  on  that  map  as  the  river  St.  Croix,  having 
been  taken  for  granted  as  correctly  laid  down  by  the  Geogra 
pher  it  was  named  as  the  commencing  boundary.  That  as  to 
any  error  in  the  Map,  or  there  being  several  rivers  of  the 
name  of  St.  Croix,  contiguous  to  each  other;  it  never  was 
suggested,  and  of  course  no  provision  made  in  such  case  by 
the  Plenipotentiaries.  That  this  was  all  he  could  possibly 
depose,  yet  if  the  American  Agent  wished  his  attendance,  on 
notice  he  would  immediately  set  out  for  Boston. 

Mr.  Adams'  deposition  was  taken  before  the  Commissioners, 
it  amounts  to  little  more  than  Mr.  Jays  statement,  and  I  think 
I  may  very  safely  say  that  it  makes  me  more  in  favor  of  the 
British  than  the  American  claims. 

He  swears  that  on  his  arrival  from  Amsterdam  at  Paris,  he 
found  the  other  Plenipotentiaries  had  already  held  several 
communications  on  the  subject  of  the  Boundaries.  That  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain  the  river  Kennebec  and  afterwards 
Penobscot  had  been  urged  as  proper  bounds,  while  the  Ameri- 


THE  TRUE   RIVER  ST.   CROIX  75 

can  Plenipotentiaries  Mr.  Jay  and  Mr.  Franklin  contended  for 
the  River  St.  John.  That  he  candidly  told  both  parties  he 
differed  with  them ;  and  his  brethren  the  American  Plenipo 
tentiaries,  that  they  pressed  as  much  too  far  to  the  North 
East,  as  the  British  were  short  of  the  real  commencing  point 
of  division.  That  the  original  North  East  boundary  of  Mas 
sachusetts  in  his  opinion  was  the  line  which  ought  to  be 
adopted,  arid  that  it  stood  limited  by  the  River  St.  Croix. 
That  having  Mitchels  Map  before  them,  he  then  traced  out 
the  boundaries  on  the  same,  and  he  thinks  marked  them  with 
a  period.  In  every  other  particular  his  testimony  agreed  with 
Mr.  Jays  information.1 

The  Surveyors  are  busily  employed  on  the  respective  rivers. 
Those  on  the  Magaguadavic  will  compleat  their  surveys  this 
fall,  but  whether  the  Survey  of  the  St.  Croix  will  be  effected 
is  a  great  Doutt.  Artists  are  also  engaged  in  taking  the 
Latitude  and  Longitude  at  the  mouths  of  the  two  Rivers. 
The  instant  the  Surveys  are  finished  a  general  map  is  to  be 
made  of  all  Rivers  and  Bay  of  Passamaquady,  by  Mr.  Sproule 
the  Surveyor  General  of  New  Brunswic,  copies  of  which  are 
to  be  delivered  the  respective  agents  to  enable  them  to  perfect 
their  arguments  and  replies.  The  Commissioners  have  ad 
journed  to  the  first  Monday  in  June  next,  then  to  meet  at 
Rhode  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  the  Question,  at 
which  period  ihey  trust  the  general  Map  will  be  compleated 
and  the  Agents  ready  to  deliver  their  respective  replies. 

His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland  having  forwarded  to  Mr. 
Chipman  His  Majesty s  Agent  Extracts  from  Champlain  and 
Copies  of  his  Maps,  particularly  of  the  River  St.  Croix  and 
the  Island  on  which  the  French  built  and  wintered  in  1604 ; 
and  that  map  having  represented  the  situation  and  extent  of 
the  Buildings  on  the  Island;  Mr.  Chipman  immediately  sent 
to  a  Gentleman  residing  near  that  place  a  copy  of  the  map, 
and  requested  him  to  dig  agreeably  to  the  positions  laid  down. 
On  removing  the  young  growth  of  Wood,  which  covered  the 

1  The   statements  of  Adams  and    Great  Britain  to  the  King  of   the 
Jay  are  printed  in  full  as  Appendix    Netherlands  in  1824. 
4  to  the   statement  presented    by 


76  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS   BARCLAY 

face  of  that  part  of  the  Island,  and  digging  a  very  little  way 
under  the  surface,  the  foundations  of  the  french  Buildings 
were  found  in  an  almost  perfect  state  also  the  Brick  of  which 
the  oven  was  made.  An  old  metal  Spoon,  Iron  spikes  nearly 
destroyed  by  rust,  peices  of  earthen  and  Iron  pots,  and  char 
coal  in  an  apparently  perfect  state,  but  which  on  being  ex 
posed  to  the  Air  slaked  and  crumbled  into  dust.  This  discov 
ery  identifies  the  Island,  and  River,  named  St.  Croix  by  the 
French.  I  take  the  liberty  to  remark  to  your  Lordship  that 
as  the  question  now  stands,  and  I  know  of  no  other  testi 
mony  proposed  to  be  adduced,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  a  de 
cision  favorable  to  His  Majesty s  claims.  One  thing  however 
is  absolutely  necessary;  to  wit  that  the  Agent  Mr.  Chip- 
man  is  possessed  of  that  edition  of  Champlain,  and  the  maps 
from  whence  the  extracts  and  fac  similies  were  made,  which 
have  been  forwarded.  The  American  Agent  has  opposed  ad 
mitting  the  certified  extracts  and  maps  above  mentioned  in 
evidence;  and  I  doubt  the  Commissioners  receiving  them, 
while  the  originals  can  be  procured.  Permit  me  therefore 
to  request  your  Lordships  attention  to  having  this  Edition 
of  Champlain  forwarded  during  the  Autumn  or  very  early  in 
the  Spring. 

I  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  procure  a  very  excellent 
french  Atlas  published  in  1755  which  lays  down  the  Rivers  in 
the  Bay  of  Passamaquady  very  correctly,  and  gives  the  name 
of  St.  Croix  to  the  Western  Branch  of  the  River.  Also  a 
french  Map  stated  to  be  a  correction  of  Mitchels.  D.  Anvills 
Map,  and  several  other  very  favorable  descriptions  of  the 
River;  all  of  which  I  have  delivered  to  Mr.  Chipman. 


FEOM   ME.   LISTON. 

Philadelphia  30th  October  1797. 
SIR, 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  letter  No.  6  of  the 
12th  of  last  month  (accompanied  with  a  private  one  of  the 


THE  TRUE  RIVER   ST.   CROIX  77 

same  date)  and  have  to  thank  you  for  the  satisfactory  account, 
you  have  given  me  of  the  State  of  your  proceedings. 

I  had  some  weeks  ago  prepared  a  dispatch  to  His  Majesty's 
Agent,  which  I  meant  to  have  accompanied  with  a  copy  of  a 
couple  of  maps  published  by  authority  of  the  British  Government 
at  the  time  of  the  disputes  with  the  Court  of  France  concerning 
the  boundaries  of  the  respective  Crowns  on  this  side  the  Atlan- 
tick,  which  ultimately  led  to  the  war  of  1756 ;  but  I  was  prevent 
ed  from  sending  my  packet  by  a  report  early  spread  here,  that 
the  Commissioners  were  not  to  enter  on  the  business  till  next 
year,  and  that  your  stay  at  Boston  would  be  extremely  short.1 
I  have  now  resolved  to  forward  the  packet  I  allude  to,  to 
gether  with  Mitchell's  map,  by  some  one  of  His  Majesty's  Ships 
of  war  that  may  be  bound  to  Halifax :  and  as  I  propose  to  set 
out  in  a  few  days  on  an  excursion  to  Norfolk  in  Virginia, 
I  think  of  carrying  it  with  me,  and  delivering  it  myself  into 
the  hands  of  some  of  the  Captains  who  I  think  will  take 
proper  care  of  it. 

His  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  communicated  to  me  the 
observation  made  by  you  on  the  difference  between  the  terms 
of  your  Commission,  and  those  of  the  one  given  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  Mr.  Howell,  and  His  Lordship  di 
rected  me  to  request  an  explanatory  declaration  on  the  subject 
on  the  part  of  the  American  Ministry.  On  executing  this 
commission,  I  perceived  that  Colonel  Pickering  was  a  little 
hurt  as  well  at  the  imputation  of  inaccuracy  or  insufficiency 
thus  cast  on  an  Instrument  which  had  been  carefully  drawn 
up  by  himself,  as  at  the  surmise  that  appeared  to  be  started 
respecting  the  sincerity  and  good  faith  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States.  I  did  not  therefore  insist  upon  any  changes 
being  made  in  Mr.  Howell's  Commission,  and  contented  myself 
with  a  general  declaration,  made  to  me  by  authority,  that  the 
President  would  give  the  decision  of  the  Commissioners  full 
force  and  effect.  I  do  not  indeed  entertain  the  smallest  appre 
hension  that  any  difficulty  will  occur  with  regard  to  the  exe- 

1  Colonel  Barclay's  return  to  Nova  died  about  the  20th  of  September, 
Scotia  was  hastened  by  the  illness  1797,  soon  after  Barclay's  arrival  at 
of  his  youngest  child,  Clement,  who  home. 


78         CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

cution  of  the  award  of  the  majority  of  the  Commissioners, 
whatever  it  may  be.  I  have  &c. 

ROB.  LISTON. 


TO   MR.  LISTON. 

Annapolis,  23  Decr  1797. 
SIR, 

I  was  favored  with  your  letter  of  the  30th  of  last  month  a 
few  weeks  since.  Mr.  Chipman  and  myself  will  be  greatly 
obliged  to  you  for  the  Copies  of  the  maps  you  propose  sending 
by  Captain  Cochrane. —  It  is  necessary  His  Majesty's  Agent 
should  be  in  possession  of  everything  that  has  been  published 
on  the  Subject  to  which  his  agency  extends:  and  admitting 
all  the  maps  which  have  hitherto  been  published  of  that  part 
of  the  River  Scodiac  and  its  branch  the  Chiputnaticook  be 
yond  the  falls  to  have  been  merely  ideal  or  at  best  taken  from 
Indian  information,  still  the  general  prevailing  opinion  of  the 
direction  of  that  River  will  operate  forcibly  in  the  decision  of 
the  question. 

It  was  my  duty  to  communicate  to  Lord  Grenville  the  vari 
ance  between  Mr.  Howells  Commission  and  mine  for  His  Ma- 
jestys  information  and  to  remove  from  myself  all  responsi 
bility  respecting  it  —  In  doing  this  my  intention  was  the 
reverse  of  imputing  inaccuracy  or  insufficiency  to  the  instru 
ments  you  mention  as  having  been  framed  by  Mr.  Pickering, 
on  the  contrary  my  letter  plainly  imports  that  the  American 
Commission  was  drawn  up  in  the  Words  of  the  fifth  Article  of 
the  treaty,  and  that  His  Majestys  Commission  to  me  went  be 
yond  the  expressions  used  in  that  Article.  Previous  explana 
tions  on  points  which  admit  of  doubt  are  all  ways  proper  and 
particularly  necessary  where  responsibility  attaches ;  nor  ought 
constructions  to  be  left  open  for  future  argument,  when  the 
present  moment  admits  of  an  explanation.  I  am  really  sorry 
Mr.  Pickering  could  suppose  my  letter  above  alluded  to  car 
ried  with  it  the  most  distant  hint  of  a  suspicion  of  the  Sin 
cerity  and  good  Faith  of  the  Government  of  the  united  States. 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.    CROIX  79 

Inclosed  is  a  copy  of  it,  and  you  will  do  me  a  favor  by  explain 
ing  it  to  him,  who  assuredly  at  the  present  very  much  miscon 
ceives  what  I  had  represented. 


FKOM    MB.    LISTON. 

Philadelphia,  4th  April,  1798. 
SIR, 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  (which  was  of  the  30th  of  October) 
I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you. 

On  the  4th  of  December  I  forwarded  from  Norfolk  (in  Vir 
ginia)  a  letter  to  Mr.  Chipman,  which  I  flatter  myself  he  has 
received,  since  Captain  Cochrane,  to  whom  it  was  entrusted, 
had  a  very  favourable  passage  to  Halifax.  It  was  accompanied 
with  Mitchell's  Map  of  North  America,  with  the  correction,  and 
a  copy  of  the  maps  published  by  the  Courts  of  Great  Britain 
and  France,  to  illustrate  their  reciprocal  pretensions  on  the 
subject  of  the  limits  of  Acadia  and  Nova  Scotia,  prior  to  the 
war  of  1756.  These  are  the  only  materials  that  have  come  in 
my  way  which  appear  to  me  to  deserve  notice ;  and  I  have  only 
to  repeat  what  I  have  already  observed  on  the  subject,  that 
Mr.  Chipman  seems  to  be  already  in  possession  of  so  much  in 
formation,  and  to  treat  the  subject  with  such  superior  ability, 
that  he  scarcely  stands  in  need  of  any  assistance  whatever. 

I  have  received  orders  to  negotiate  and  conclude  an  addi 
tional  article  to  the  Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce  and  Naviga 
tion,  with  a  view  to  liberate  you  from  the  obligation  of  fixing 
(with  a  precision  perhaps  impossible  to  obtain)  the  longitude 
and  latitude  of  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix,  and  to  stipulate 
some  other  method  of  ascertaining  the  question  respecting  the 
disputed  boundary  between  the  two  countries.  The  American 
Minister  is  willing  to  proceed  as  soon  as  may  be  to  this  busi 
ness  with  me  (although  he  had  at  the  same  time  authorized 
Mr.  King  to  manage  the  affair  in  London)  ;  but  the  attention 
of  this  Government  has  for  some  time  past  been  so  completely 
engrossed  by  their  dispute  with  France,  that  it  has  been  im 
possible  for  Colonel  Pickering  to  find  leisure  to  give  the  neces- 


80         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

sary  consideration  to  the  subject.  As  soon  as  it  is  in  my 
power,  I  will  transmit  to  you  and  to  Lieutenant  Governor 
Carleton  a  draught  of  the  article  we  may  think  likely  to  an 
swer  the  purpose,  that  you  may  favour  us  with  such  altera 
tions  and  amendments  as  shall  in  your  opinion  be  expedient. 
I  have  &c  ROB.  LISTON. 


P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  I  find  by  letters  from  Lord 
Greriville  that  the  additional  article  alluded  to  in  my  letter  is 
to  be  negociated  in  London.  R.  L. 


TO    ME.    LISTON. 

Annapolis  2nd  May,  1798. 

(Private.) 
SIR, 

Mr.  Thornton l  by  the  last  Post  from  Halifax  forwarded  me 
your  dispatch,  No.  1  of  the  4th  of  April.  Before  this,  I  hope 
my  letter  of  the  23  of  Decr  has  come  to  your  hands.  It  was  put 
on  board  a  Brig  which  was  to  have  sailed  from  Digby  about 
the  latter  end  of  December  for  Philadelphia ;  the  severity  of 
the  weather  and  violence  of  the  Gales  induced  the  owners  to 
postpone  her  departure  until  March,  when  she  sailed  for  Balti 
more.  I  now  enclose  a  duplicate,  and  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
remove  the  unfavorable  impression  Mr.  Pickering  through 
mistake  entertains  of  my  suggestion  to  Lord  Grenville. 

The  letter  and  the  maps  you  some  time  since  forwarded  by 
Captain  Cochrane  have  been  transmitted  to  Mr.  Chiprnan,  who 
is  not  a  little  flattered  with  the  favorable  opinion  you  entertain 
of  his  industry.  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  pleased  with  the 
case  he  has  made  out  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty  j  it  was  my 
wish  to  have  forwarded  a  copy  for  your  and  Mr.  Bonds  peru 
sal;  the  Secretary  however  has  not  yet  had  leisure  to  make 
me  one. 

The  Commissioners  and  Agents  conceived  it  unnecessary, 

1  Edward  Thornton,  the  British  Secretary  of  Legation. 


THE  TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  81 

and  a  measure  that  would  greatly  retard  the  conclusion  of  the 
question,  to  ascertain  the  Latitude  and  Longitude  of  the  Source 
of  the  River ;  because  the  taking  the  latitude  and  Longitude 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Eiver  and  giving  a  minute  description  of 
the  Courses  and  distances  from  thence  to  its  source  would 
completely  answer  every  purpose  intended  and  identify  the 
source  beyond  the  possibility  of  future  doubt.  Under  these 
impressions  the  Agents  were  permitted  to  apply  to  their  re 
spective  Governments,  that  that  part  of  the  directions  in  the 
fifth  Article  of  the  treaty  might  be  dispensed.  By  your 
favor  I  find  that  in  addition  to  this  "  a  new  Article  is  to  be 
negotiated  in  London  whereby  some  other  method  will  be 
adopted  for  ascertaining  the  question  respecting  the  dis 
puted  boundary  between  the  two  Countries."  Ignorant  of 
the  particular  object  this  article  is  proposed  to  embrace 
it  is  out  of  my  power  to  give  an  opinion  of  its  expedi 
ency;  still  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  state  for  your  and  my 
Lord  G-renville's  information  the  probable  issue  under  the 
present  Commission  admitting  it  is  proceeded  on  according 
to  their  original  instructions. —  The  River  Magaguadavic  con 
templated  by  the  Americans  as  the  S*-  Croix,  can  never  be  con 
firmed  as  such.  Its  only  support  is  Indian  tradition,  while 
every  document,  description,  actual  survey  and  representation 
prove  the  reverse. —  The  Scoodiac  therefore  will  be  the  river 
comprehended  in  the  decision  of  the  decision  of  the  Commrs' — 
But  as  this  River  divides  itself  into  two  Branches  some  dis 
tance  above  the  falls,  the  one  the  Chipatnaticook  tending  very 
nearly  north,  the  other  the  continuance  of  the  Scoodiac  West 
North  West ;  it  will  become  a  question  with  the  Commission 
ers  which  of  these  two  Branches  are  to  be  considered  as  the  Sl- 
Croix  intended  in  the  treaty  of  1783 — Printed  and  written 
evidence  are  in  favor  of  the  latter,  to  which  I  may  add  that  on 
comparing  the  actual  Surveys  of  these  two  Branches  with  the 
most  correct  maps  extant,  the  resemblance  will  be  found  to 
operate  strongly  in  favor  of  the  western  Branch,  particularly 
at  the  Sources.  It  follows  from  hence  that  circumstances  are 
in  favor  of  the  Question  being  determined  to  the  extent  of  his 
Majesty s  claim,  and  even  under  the  most  unfavorable  Event 


82         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

that  an  offset  of  upwards  of  20  miles  West  will  be  gained  be 
tween  the  Magaguadavic  &  Chipatnaticook. 

The  course  of  the  Chiputnatecook  from  its  mouth  to  its 
source  is  very  nearly  north.  By  examining  the  maps,  you  will 
readily  discover  that  a  line  drawn  due  North  from  the  mouth 
of  this  River  to  the  Highlands  will  leave  a  large  part  of  New 
Brunswic  to  the  Westward  of  this  line  and  cut  off  the  commu 
nication  between  that  Province  and  Canada ;  whereas  a  North 
line  drawn  from  the  Western  extremity  of  the  Scoodiac,  if  it 
did  not  leave  new  Brunswic  entire,  would  take  but  a  very 
small  portion  from  it.  If  therefore  the  new  Article  in  contem 
plation  goes  to  confirm  the  Western  Source  it  may  be  an  object 
of  moment.  In  the  negotiation  however  the  Magaguadavic 
must  be  removed  even  from  the  back  ground,  and  the  Chiput 
natecook  and  Scoodiac  spoken  of  as  the  only  possible  streams 
in  question.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  give  you  my  senti 
ments,  least  Lord  Grenville  might  be  induced  to  consider  the 
question  of  the  two  rivers  as  still  involved  in  doubt  and  from 
thence  be  led  to  yeild  a  greater  equivalent  than  he  otherwise 
would  do.  In  negotiating  this  new  Article  it  is  of  moment  to 
comprehend  the  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquady  which  ap 
pertain  to  his  Majesty  beyond  contradiction,  some  of  the  best 
of  which  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Americans. 

The  Agent  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  during  the  last 
Winter  applied  through  Mr.  Chipman  for  my  consent  to  a 
farther  adjournment  of  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners, 
which  stood  for  the  first  Monday  in  June,  suggesting  as  his 
motive  the  survey,  not  being  completed  and  the  impracticabil 
ity  of  his  finishing  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
before  he  was  in  possession  of  a  copy  of  the  survey.  To  this 
application  I  gave  a  negative.  He  has  since  repeated  his  re 
quest  and  in  addition  to  his  former  reasons,  added  that  in  case 
the  board  met  in  June,  he  would  be  compelled  to  protest 
against  delivering  in  his  argument  in  an  unfinished  State  and 
to  pray  a  further  day.  Previous  to  the  receipt  of  this,  Sir  John 
Wentworth  had  requested  me  in  pointed  terms  to  postpone  if 
practicable  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  until  the  latter 
end  of  July,  that  I  might  attend  the  next  Session  of  the  House 


THE   TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  83 

of  Assembly.  I  have  been  therefore  induced  to  acceed  to  Mr. 
Sullivans  proposal,  and  acquainted  the  other  Comrs  if  they  had 
no  objection,  I  was  willing  to  extend  the  time  to  the  23rd  of 
July. 

From  the  communication  in  your  letter  I  have  reason  to  sus 
pect  Mr.  Sullivan  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  "  the  proposal  for  the 
additional  article  "  you  mention.  I  am  led  to  this  opinion  from 
the  very  particular  manner  in  which  he  stands  pledged  to  con 
firm  the  Magaguadavic  as  the  St.  Croix,  not  only  in  his  His 
tory  of  the  Province  of  Maine,  but  the  general  Language  he 
has  held  for  years  past  in  public  and  Private  j  He  must  now 
be  fully  convinced  that  the  Event  will  be  unfavorable  to  his 
position  and  wish  to  avoid  the  Odium  and  censure  that  inevit 
ably  will  follow  an  adjudication  unfavorable  to  his  assertions, 
and  the  only  method  of  doing  this  is  by  suspending  the  present 
question  and  altering  the  nature  of  the  issue. 


TO    ME.    LISTON. 

Annapolis,  10th  May,  1798. 
SIR. 

I  did  myself  the  Honor  on  the  second  of  this  month  to  reply 
to  your  favor  of  the  4th  of  April,  since  which  Mr.  Chipman  has 
enclosed  me  a  copy  of  Lord  Grenvilles  letter  to  you  under  date 
the  9th  January  last,  from  which  I  find  I  had  given  too  exten 
sive  a  construction  to  your  expressions  "  and  to  stipulate  some 
other  method  of  ascertaining  the  question  respecting  the  dis 
puted  boundary  between  the  two  Countries  n ;  and  that  you  in 
tended  nothing  more,  than  that  this  new  Article  should,  in 
addition  to  exonerating  the  Commissioners  from  expressing  in 
their  declaration  the  Latitude  and  Longitude  at  the  Source  of 
the  River,  prescribe  some  particular  mode  for  perpetuating  the 
boundary  between  the  North  East  Bounds  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  and  the  North  West  Angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  the 
terminus  a  quo  the  North  line  deducted  in  the  treaty  of  1783 
is  to  commence. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  remark  the  difficulty  that  at- 


84        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

tends  astronomical,  or  indeed  any  other  observations  in  uncul 
tivated  Countries,  and  Climates  subject  to  fogs  and  cloudy 
weather,  that  a  variation  of  a  few  minutes  will  create  a  greater 
difference  in  the  Longitude,  than  perhaps  the  nearest  collat 
eral  stream  is  really  distant  from  the  River  St.  Croix,  and  that 
if  at  a  future  period  the  Latitude  and  Longitude  should  be 
again  taken,  the  degrees  expressed  in  our  adjudication,  may 
be  found  to  correspond  with  the  source  of  a  stream,  other  than 
the  one  intended.  To  prevent  these  difficulties,  it  was  the  wish 
of  the  Commissioners  that  they  might  be  authorized  to  omit 
in  their  declaration  the  Latitude  and  Longitude  at  the  Source 
of  the  River ;  to  supply  which  it  was  our  intention  to  annex  to 
the  Declaration,  as  his  Lordship  very  properly  advises  a  cor 
rect  map  of  the  Bay  of  Passamaquady  with  all  its  rivers,  par 
ticularly  the  St.  Croix  from  the  mouth  to  the  source  thereof, 
designating  every  stream  or  fork  that  empties  its  waters  into 
it.  A  map  thus  compiled  from  accurate  surveys,  whereon  the 
courses  and  distances  are  minutely  laid  down,  and  every  col 
lateral  stream  represented  on  a  proportionable  Scale  will  inev 
itably  place  the  Source  of  the  River  beyond  the  probability  of 
future  doubt.  The  Commrs.  in  establishing  the  point  which  is 
hence  forward  to  be  considered  as  the  Source,  will  naturally  take 
the  upper  most  lake,  or  some  other  prominent  feature  near  the 
Source,  and  from  thence  give  the  bearings  and  distances  to  the 
Source.  It  may  possibly  not  be  amiss  to  erect  a  stone  column 
on  the  Spot,  as  a  monument,  and  to  have  it  revisited  every 
third  year ;  I  cannot  however  say  I  think  it  a  measure  either 
safe  or  necessary. 

The  present  dispute  owes  its  origin  to  the  want  of  correct 
maps  of  the  Rivers  in  the  bay  of  Passamaquady,  and  definite 
names  to  the  river  of  all  which  the  Americans  in  1783  were 
equally  ignorant  with  his  Majesty s  subjects.  The  dispute  is 
not  as  to  the  Source,  but  which  is  the  River,  and  I  take  it  for 
granted,  the  river  once  established,  the  source  will  readily  be  as 
certained.  With  alldeferance  therefore  to  his  Lordships  opinion, 
I  am  led  to  believe  the  map  intended  to  be  annexed  to  the  declar 
ation,  will  prove  a  more  safe  guide,  to  find  the  source  of  the  River 
St.  Croix ;  than  any  monument  that  Art  can  erect.  If  a  mon- 


THE   TRUE   EIVER  ST.   GROIX  85 

ument  is  erected  the  map  and  declaration  will  in  future  be  con- 
trouled  by  that  land  mark,  because  it  is  composed  of  matter, 
and  place  is  the  very  object  and  essence  of  its  foundation, 
whereas  the  descriptive  part  of  the  declaration  will  be  founded 
on  the  map,  which  is  no  more  than  an  ideal  representation, 
protracted  from  a  measurement.  Between  individuals  cases 
frequently  occur  whose  landmarks  are  basely  transposed,  the 
same  sinister  motives  may  lead  persons  owning  lands  in  North 
eastern  parts  of  Massachusetts  to  remove  a  national  boundary 
solemnly  erected  by  the  consent  of  the  two  nations.  Admit 
ting  some  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  were  induced  by 
interest  to  remove  this  structure,  to  the  next  eastern  stream ; 
how  easily  and  privately  might  it  be  effected,  in  a  desert  up 
wards  of  seventy  miles  from  any  settlement?  This  done,  it 
would  only  be  necessary  to  secure  the  testimony  of  one  of  the 
persons  appointed  to  inspect,  and  the  whole  question  would  again 
be  open  for  negotiation  or  controversy,  with  the  addi 
tional  onus  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  prove  the  removal 
of  the  monument;  a  fact  not  easy  under  common  circum 
stances,  and  perhaps  impossible,  if  the  person  who  inspected  it 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  was  dead.  I  admit  such  a  case  to 
be  highly  improbable,  still  while  it  is  within  the  degrees  of 
possibility,  is  it  not  evident  that  a  natural,  notorious  object 
near  the  source  of  the  river,  which  nothing  less  than  a  convul 
sion  of  nature  can  injure  or  destroy,  and  will  be  a  preferable 
Guide,  for  the  information  of  succeeding  Ages,  to  a  pillar  of 
stone,  which  may  as  easily  be  removed,  as  raised,  and  which 
by  removal  would  only  change  its  place,  but  not  its  form  or 
effect.  Extend  this  Idea,  and  suppose  engraved  on  this  Pillar 
an  inscription,  purporting  it  was  erected  by  order  of  His  Maj 
esty  and  the  united  States  of  America  to  identify  and  perpet 
uate,  the  place  hereafter  to  be  considered  as  the  Source  of  the 
River  St.  Croix  ;  what  would  the  consequence  be,  if  it  was  re 
moved  to  the  head  of  the  next  eastern  stream.  The  persons 
sent  to  inspect  it  at  the  expiration  of  three  years,  might  never 
have  been  there  before,  and  of  course  consider  it  as  standing 
in  its  original  position  j  but  admitting  they  suspected  it  had 
been  removed,  neither  the  declaration  of  the  Commissioners 

6A 


86  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

or  the  Map  subjoined  could  effect  its  locality,  nor  could  it  be 
reconveyed  to  the  original  Station  without  at  least  the  inter 
position  of  the  two  powers,  a  measure  dependant  on  the  good 
understanding  then  subsisting  between  them. 


FROM   ME.   LISTON. 

Philadelphia,  11  June,  1798. 

SIR, 

I  have  been  favored  with  your  letters  No.  1  and  2  of  this 
year,  from  Anapolis,  enclosing  a  duplicate  of  your  No.  7  of 
last  year,  the  original  of  which  has  not  yet  come  to  hand. 

With  regard  to  the  terms  made  use  of  in  the  full  powers  of 
the  respective  commissioners,  which  gave  rise  to  an.  application 
by  me  to  the  American  Government  in  consequence  of  orders 
from  home,  the  fact  is,  that  I  did  not,  on  reading  Lord  Gren- 
ville's  letter  on  the  subject,  rightly  comprehend  the  difference 
that  had  struck  you.  It  never  once  came  into  my  head  that 
there  could  be  any  doubt  with  respect  to  the  validity  of  the 
decision  of  A  MAJORITY  of  the  three  commissioners ;  so  that  I 
merely  copied  what  Lord  Grenville  had  said  to  me,  blindly 
obeying  my  orders,  without  understanding  the  reasons  of 
them.  And  I  believe  the  American  Secretary  of  State  com 
prehended  them  as  little  as  I  did.  I  shall  now  take  an  op 
portunity  of  explaining  the  matter  to  Colonel  Pickering; 
through  the  distance  of  time  is  so  great  and  the  dissatisfaction 
shewed  by  him  was  so  slight,  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
return  to  the  subject. 

The  additional  article  with  regard  to  the  ascertaining  of  the 
source  of  the  Eiver  St.  Croix  having  been  concluded  in  Lon 
don,  and  ratified  by  His  Majesty  and  by  the  President,  I  take 
an  opportunity  of  forwarding  a  copy  of  it.1 

1  It  was  signed  in  London,  March  ment "  at  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix, 

15, 1798;  and  its  ratification  advised  instead  of  ascertaining  the  latitude 

by  the  Senate,  June  5,  1789.    It  pro-  and  longitude  of  that  spot, 
vides  for  erecting  "  a  suitable  monu- 


THE  TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  87 

I  think  with  you,  Sir,  that  a  monument  of  stone  is  liable  to 
be  removed  by  ill-designing  persons,  unless  indeed  it  were 
constructed  at  a  large  expence ;  —  such  for  instance  as  an 
Egyptian  obelisk, —  (an  immense  column  of  one  piece  of  stone,) 
—  which  could  not  be  placed  upright  without  a  great  union  of 
force  and  skill,  an  operation  that  must  make  a  great  impres 
sion  on  all  the  neighborhood,  and  that  individuals  could  not 
afford  to  undertake.  Since  it  has  been  determined  on  how 
ever,  I  suppose  it  must  be  erected.  At  the  same  time  there  is 
surely  no  reason  why  the  additional  evidence, — to  be  derived 
from  a  map  or  chart  of  the  course  of  the  river, — should  not  be 
rendered  as  precise  and  authentick  as  possible.  Natural  ob 
jects,  of  great  size,  of  a  particular  kind,  might  be  designated 
in  the  map,  and  in  the  declaration  or  award  of  the  commis 
sioners.  It  is  right,  and  it  is  essentially  necessary,  that  no  pos 
sible  doubt  should  be  left  remaining. 

I  propose  soon  to  take  an  opportunity  of  sounding  the 
American  Ministry  concerning  the  Islands  in  the  Bay. 

I  remain,  &c  ROB.  LISTON. 


FROM   MR.   CHIPMAN   TO   MR.   LISTON. 

Providence  23d  Oct.  1798. 

(Private.) 
SIR, 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  proposed  decision 
and  declaration  of  the  Commissioners  before  whom  I  have  been 
appointed  to  manage  the  business  as  Agent  on  the  part  of  His 
Majesty,  have  been  communicated  to  me  by  which  it  appears 
that  the  River  Scudiac  claimed  on  the  part  of  his  Majesty  to 
be  the  Source  of  its  Western  branch  is  to  be  decided  to  be  the 
River  St.  Croix  truly  intended  under  that  name  in  the  Treaty 
of  Peace  the  Source  of  this  Branch  is  however  in  this  decision 
particularized  to  be  where  it  issues  from  the  Lake  Geriesaga- 
rumsis  the  Easternmost  of  the  Scudiac  Lakes  and  distant  about 


88         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

five  miles  and  three  quarters  on  a  direct  course  from  where 
the  Cheputnaticook  falls  into  it.  Altho'  this  decision  is  very 
flattering1  to  me,  as  it  establishes  every  principle  upon  which 
the  claim  on  the  part  of  his  Majesty  was  founded,  and  is  fully 
accordant  with  the  prayer  of  that  claim,  still  in  it's  consequen 
ces  I  fear  it  will  prove  very  inconvenient  if  not  injurious  to 
the  Interest  of  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  as  a  North  line 
from  this  Source  will  intersect  the  Eiver  St.  John  so  as  to  leave 
the  Military  posts  at  Presque  Isle,  and  the  Grand  Falls  and 
every  part  of  the  River  St.  John  above  Presque  Isle,  which  is 
about  Eighty  miles  above  Fredericton  within  the  territory  of 
the  United  States.  Some  inconveniences  will  at  the  same  time 
result  to  the  United  States  from  this  decision,  as  the  North  line 
from  this  Source  will  leave  in  His  Majesty's  dominions  a  con 
siderable  tract  of  Country  lying  between  this  line  and  the 
River  Cheputnaticook  which  has  been  granted  to  Individuals 
by  the  State  of  Massachusets.  These  inconveniences  are  con 
sidered  so  great  by  the  Agent  of  the  United  States  as  to  induce 
him  to  propose  to  me  an  accommodation  between  the  two  Gov 
ernments,  by  an  Agreement  to  recommend  to  the  Commissioners 
to  decide  the  Northernmost  Source  of  the  Cheputnaticook  to  be 
the  Source  of  the  Saint  Croix,  in  lieu  of  the  Source  above  men 
tioned.  By  such  a  decision  the  North  Line  from  this  Source 
will  run  Nine  Miles  to  the  Westward  of  the  Post  at  Presque 
Isle  and  upwards  of  four  miles  to  the  westward  of  the  Grand 
Falls  and  will  intersect  the  River  St.  John  one  hundred  and 
thirty  five  miles  above  Fredericton  as  you  will  perceive  by  the 
Maps  accompanying  this  Letter.  Not  only  therefore  a  very 
great  tract  of  country  will  be  gained  by  the  alteration  of  the 
place  to  be  particularized  as  the  Source  of  the  River  but  the 
communication  with  Canada  by  the  River  St.  John  will  remain 
to  a  much  greater  extent  unbroken.  Had  I  any  authority  to 
enter  into  a  negotiation  of  this  nature  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
accede  to  this  proposal  and  to  endeavor  to  effect  a  decision 
in  conformity  to  it,  but  such  as  an  undertaking  is  beyond  my 
duty  or  powers  as  his  Majesty's  Agent.  I  consider  it  therefore 
extremely  fortunate  that  I  have  an  opportunity  of  consulting 
you  Sir  upon  this  occasion,  by  your  accidental  arrival  at  this 


THE  TRUE  RIVER  ST.   CROIX  89 

place  at  a  moment  so  critical,  as  the  final  declaration  is  expected 
to  be  signed  this  day. 

I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  nothing  has  induced 
Colonel  Barclay  to  assent  to  the  decision  now  in  contempla 
tion,  but  the  consideration,  that  the  Commissioners  would 
otherwise  separate  without  coming  to  any  determination,  and 
that  it  is  so  dissatisfactory  to  Mr.  Howell  the  American  Com 
missioner  originally  appointed  that  he  will  not  sign  it,  as  he 
contends  for  the  Cheputnaticook  River  and  that  its  Source 
should  be  particularized  to  be,  where  it  issues  from  the  first  or 
most  eastern  lake  connected  with  that  Branch  j  he  is  therefore 
averse  to  the  proposed  alteration,  but  will  accede  to  it,  if  rec 
ommended  by  the  Agent  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  I 
am  aware  that  difficulties  may  arise  in  carrying  the  proposed 
agreement  into  effect,  as  the  other  Commissioners  have  not 
been  yet  consulted  upon  it,  but  if  I  have  your  approbation  and 
sanction  of  the  measure,  I  shall  feel  myself  justified  in  attempt 
ing  to  avail  myself  of  an  opportunity,  which  may  perhaps 
never  again  present  itself  of  effecting  upon  so  easy  terms  a 
settlement  of  this  Boundary  line  in  a  manner  so  favorable  to 
His  Majesty's  interests,  and  at  the  same  time  an  event  so 
desirable  as  an  unanimous  decision  of  the  Commissioners  in 
the  present  cause. 

I  shall  hope  for  an  answer  to  this  Letter  as  speedily  as  may 
consist  with  your  convenience  and  the  urgency  of  the  occasion. 

I  have,  &c. 

W.  CHIPMAN. 


FEOM   MK.   LISTON   TO   MR.   CHIPMAN. 

Providence,  23d  Oct.  1798. 

(Private.) 
SIR, 

I  have  considered  with  attention  your  Letter  of  this  day,  and 
it  appears  to  me  evident,  that  the  adoption  of  the  River  Che 
putnaticook  as  a  part  of  the  Boundary  between  his  Majesty's 


90         CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

American  Dominions,  and  those  of  the  United  States  in  pref 
erence  to  a  line  drawn  from  the  Easternmost  point  of  the 
Scudiac  Lakes,  would  be  attended  with  considerable  advantage. 
It  would  give  an  addition  of  territory  to  the  Province  of  New 
Brunswick,  together  with  a  greater  extent  of  Navigation  on 
St.  Johns  River,  and  above  all  a  longer  stretch  of  natural 
frontier  calculated  to  prevent  future  difficulties  and  discussions 
between  the  two  countries. 

If  therefore  by  assenting  to  the  proposal  of  the  American 
Agent  you  can  bring  about  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the 
Commissioners  in  this  measure,  I  am  of  opinion  that  you  will 
promote  His  Majesty's  real  interests ;  and  I  will  take  the  earli 
est  opportunity  with  a  view  to  your  justification  of  expressing 
these  my  Sentiments  on  the  Subject  to  his  Majesty's  Secretary 
of  State.  I  have,  &c., 

ROB.  LISTON. 


TO   LOED   GKENVILLE. 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  10th  Nov.,  1798. 
MY  LORD, 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  your  Lordship  that  I  returned 
to  this  place  on  Saturday  last  from  Providence  in  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island,  having  on  the  26  of  October  compleated  the 
Commission  with  which  his  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  honor 
me ;  the  event  of  which  I  trust  will  meet  His  most  Gracious 
approbation. 

A  copy  of  the  Declaration  of  the  Commissioners  is  herewith 
inclosed  to  your  Lordship,  an  original  of  which  with  a  map  of 
the  Territory  in  dispute  has  been  delivered  to  his  Majesty's 
agent.1  Your  Lordship  will  observe  that  the  Event  has  been 
very  favorable,  the  River  claimed  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty 
as  the  true  St.  Croix  having  been  confirmed  as  such  by  the 

1  The  award  of  the  Commissioners    various  other  documents  relating  to 
will  be  found  in  American  State  Pa-    this  matter  are  printed, 
pers,  For.  Eel., Vol.  VI,  p.  921,  where 


THE  TRUE   RIVER   ST.   CROIX  91 

Commissioners.  It  was  not,  however,  in  their  power  to  extend 
the  Western  Limits  of  the  late  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  to  the 
extreme  point  claimed  by  His  Majesty's  Agent,  to  wit,  "  ad 
scatureginem  sive  fontem  ex  occidental!  parte  ejusdem,  qui  se 
primum  praedicto  fluvio  immisset,"  the  words  made  nse  of  in 
the  Grant  of  King  James  to  Sir  William  Alexander.  Had  the 
boundaries  contained  in  the  Commissions  to  the  Governors  of 
Nova  Scotia  from  the  year  1763  tallied  with  those  in  Sir  Wil 
liam  Alexander's  Grant,  Mr.  Benson  the  third  Commissioner 
would  readily  have  gone  with  me  in  establishing  the  most  re 
mote  Western  spring  on  the  Scoudiac,  as  the  Source  of  the 
River  St.  Croix,  but  as  those  Commissions  use  only  the  expres 
sion  of  to  the  Source  of  the  River  St.  Croix,  Mr.  Howell  con 
ceived  the  Chiputnatucook  from  its  superior  magnitude  to  be 
the  branch,  we  were  to  follow  for  the  Source ;  while  Mr.  Ben 
son  and  myself  were  of  opinion  that  the  continuation  of  the 
Scoodiac  was  the  real  St.  Croix,  because  it  had  ever  retained 
the  same  Indian  name  with  its  waters,  below  this  ramification 
of  the  River.  Mr.  Benson,  however,  could  not  from  the  words 
of  the  treaty  of  Peace  in  1783 ;  or  the  boundaries  of  the  Prov 
ince  of  Nova  Scotia  as  expressed  in  the  Commissions  to  the 
Governors  from  the  year  1763  find  himself  authorized  to  pro 
ceed  farther  up  the  River  Scoudiac  for  the  Source,  than  where 
the  waters  issue  from  the  lake  Genesagaragum-siss  into  the 
Scoudiac,  a  distance  of  not  more  than  five  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Chiputnatecook,  as  your  Lordship  will  observe 
by  reverting  to  the  map  annexed  to  the  declaration.  The  fol 
lowing  were  his  objections.  That  previous  to  the  year  1763 
the  only  bounds  to  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  were  those 
expressed  in  the  Grant  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  the  then 
Western  limits  of  which  "were  the  most  remote  Source  or 
Spring  on  the  Western  side  of  the  said  River  (the  St.  Croix) 
which  first  mingles  its  waters  with  the  aforesaid  River."  That 
this  most  Western  Source  or  fountain,  was  from  a  literal  trans 
lation  of  the  words,  a  stream  of  water  different  from  the  St. 
Croix,  and  at  all  Events  could  not  ex  vi  termini  merely  be  con 
sidered  the  Source  of  the  River  St.  Croix  ;  that  the  Commis 
sions  to  the  respective  Governors  of  Nova  Scotia  from  the 


92  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

establishment  of  the  Province  to  the  year  1763  were  general 
and  without  expressing  any  particular  bounds.  In  1763,  when 
the  French  ceded  Canada  to  Great  Britain,  the  Northern  limits 
of  Nova  Scotia  were  narrowed  and  confined  to  the  Highlands, 
&c.,  &c.,  a  commission  to  Montague  Wilmot  as  Governor  of 
Nova  Scotia  issued  soon  after  in  which  commission  new  bounds 
were  given  to  Nova  Scotia  in  the  Words  following,  "  bounded 
on  the  Westward  by  a  line  drawn  from  Cape  Sable  across  the 
enterance  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  mouth  of  the  River  St. 
Croix,  by  the  said  River  to  its  Source  and  by  a  line  drawn  due 
North  from  thence  to  the  Southern  boundary  of  our  Colony  of 
Quebec." 

These  same  boundaries  are  expressed  in  several  Subsequent 
Commissions.  That  the  Words  to  its  Source  in  these  com 
missions  and  in  the  treaty  of  Peace  in  1783,  are  very  different 
from  those  of  "  most  remote  source  or  Spring  on  the  Western 
side  of  the  said  River  which  first  mingles  its  waters  with  the 
aforesaid  river7'  made  use  of  in  Sir  William  Alexanders  Grant. 
That  a  chain  of  Lakes  could  not  be  called  a  river,  in  proof  of 
which  Mr.  Benson  referred  to  the  second  Article  of  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States 
of  America,  wherein  the  River  St.  Lawrence  is  considered  to 
cease  at  the  Lake  Ontario,  and  all  the  Waters  that  connect  the 
lakes  from  Ontario  to  the  lake  of  the  Woods  are  called  water 
communications  and  not  the  River  St.  Lawrence.  That  the 
lake  in  the  Woods  was  as  much  the  Source  of  this  River,  as 
the  most  remote  western  lake  of  the  Scoudiac  was  of  the  St. 
Croix.  He  therefore  could  not  with  propriety  go  beyond  the 
first  lake  in  the  Scoudiac  for  the  Source  of  the  St.  Croix —  so 
far  he  could  eonsistantly  go,  beyond  it,  all  was  uncertain,  and 
mere  conjecture.  Mr.  Ho  well  adopted  a  similar  mode  of 
arguing  for  the  Source  of  the  St.  Croix  on  the  Chiputnate- 
cook.  After  much  debate  between  Mr.  Benson  and  myself 
as  to  the  source  of  the  River,  His  Majesty's  Agent,  with  the 
advice  of  Mr.  Liston  the  Envoy  Extraordinary  requested  me 
to  acceed  to  the  Chiputnatecook  provided  I  could  obtain  the 
northwest  Source  of  that  River.  To  this  point  Mr.  Benson, 
as  a  matter  of  negotiation  and  accommodation  between  the 


THE  TRUE  RIVER  ST.  CROIX  93 

nations,  readily  assented.1  Mr.  Howell  declined  being  a  party 
to  the  declaration  ;  until  it  was  engrossed  and  ready  for  ex 
ecution.  He  then  reluctantly  directed  his  name  to  be  inserted 
in  the  Declaration,  which  he  eventually  signed.  By  taking 
the  Northwest  Source  of  the  Chiputnatecook,  instead  of  the 
Scoudiac  where  it  joins  the  lakes,  we  gain  a  very  considerable 
addition  of  territory,  and  the  line  to  be  drawn  from  thence 
due  North  will  intersect  the  River  St.  John  very  high  up, 
some  distance  above  the  Grand  falls.  Whereas  a  North  line 
from  the  lake  Genesagaragum-Siss  would  have  crossed  the 
River  St.  John  to  the  Southward  of  the  Post  at  Presque  Isle. 
By  the  present  decision  all  grants  under  the  Crown  are  se 
cured.  The  mast  country  preserved  and  about  nine-tenths  of 
the  Lauds  in  dispute  confirmed  to  the  King  ;  in  addition  to 
all  which  the  Chiputnatecook  putting  the  Grant  of  Alexander 
out  of  the  Question,  is  beyond  all  doubt  the  principal  feeder 
of  the  River  St.  Croix,  and  of  course  the  Branch  on  which  the 
Source  is  to  be  found  and  from  its  direct  course  an  infinitely 
preferable  national  boundary  to  the  upper  part  of  the  Scou 
diac.  I  shall  leave  to  His  Majesty's  Agent  to  explain  the 
effect  our  decision  will  have  on  the  Bay  of  Passamaquady 
and  the  Islands  therein ;  adding  only  this  remark  that  the 
Commissioners  could  not  find  the  mouth  of  the  River  St. 
Croix  (agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  Peace)  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 

i  Judge  Benson's  views  as  sum-  not  capable  of  being  liquidated  by 
marized  in  this  letter,  were  pre-  calculation  or  definite  Rule,  and 
served  more  at  length  in  a  MS.  therefore  to  be  assessed  accord- 
memorandum,  a  copy  of  which  was  ing  to  discernment  or  discretion ;  a 
filed  in  1817  with  the  Commissioners  latitude  of  arbitrament  is  in  such 
under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  cases  supposed  to  be  permitted  to 
of  Ghent.  It  is  published  in  Rec.  the  Jurors,  but  as  they  must  at  the 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Oct.,  1887.  In  re-  same  time  agree  in  a  precise  sum, 
gard  to  the  compromise  concerning  accommodation  of  sentiment  among 
the  point  to  be  selected  as  the  them  to  a  degree  is  necessary  and 
source  of  the  St.  Croix,  he  says:  consequently  justifiable."  This  ex- 
11  The  reference,  as  it  respected  the  plains  Benson's  readiness  to  assent 
Source  of  the  River  being  as  it  were  to  the  selection  of  the  northwest 
an  appeal  to  mere  judgment  or  branch  of  the  Chiputnaticook  "as 
opinion,  is  in  that  view  analogous  a  matter  of  negotiation  and  accom- 
to  cases  of  assessment  of  damages,  modation." 


94         CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

but  at  a  Point  near  St.  Andrews  at  the  head  of  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquady. 

I  have  repeatedly  observed  to  your  Lordship  that  the  sur 
veys  of  the  Rivers  were  the  sole  cause  of  procrastinating  the 
decision.  The  Arguments  also  of  the  Agents  have  been  dif 
fuse  in  the  extreme.  These  were  closed  on  the  22d  of  Sep 
tember,  and  the  maps  compiled  from  the  Surveys  by  the  Sur 
veyor  General  of  New  Brunswic  arrived  at  Providence  the 
15th  of  October.  The  Commissioners  on  that  day  entered 
on  their  decision  and  the  declaration  was  executed  on  the 
26th  of  that  month.  It  has  been  my  constant  study  to  pro 
mote  His  Majesty's  Interest  by  every  means  within  my  power 
consistent  with  my  duty  as  a  Commissioner ;  and  if  my  con 
duct  happily  meets  the  approbation  of  my  Sovereign,  your 
Lordship  and  His  Majesty s  other  Ministers,  it  will  afford  me 
infinite  satisfaction. 


CHAPTER  III 

CONSUL-GENERAL,    1799-1802 

THE  question  of  the  River  St.  Croix  being  thus  hap 
pily  disposed  of,  Colonel  Barclay, —  after  a  brief 
visit  to  New- York, —  returned  to  Nova  Scotia  in  the  lat 
ter  part  of  the  year  1798  to  take  up  again  his  duties  at 
the  bar  and  in  the  legislature,  and  to  go  on  with  the  de 
velopment  and  sale  of  his  lands.  His  children  were 
fast  growing  up,  and  their  settlement  in  life  was  begin 
ning  to  claim  his  constant  care  and  thought.  Of  the 
three  eldest,  Eliza  was  indeed  happily  married;  but 
Henry  was  almost  out  of  his  apprenticeship  as  a  clerk 
with  Hartshorne  &  Boggs,  of  Halifax,  and  money  would 
be  wanting  to  establish  him  in  business;  while  De  Laii- 
cey  was  loitering  away  his  time  as  an  officer  in  a  f  encible 
regiment. 

To  support  a  family  of  ten  children  —  to  marry  the 
daughters  —  to  buy  commissions  and  partnerships  for 
the  sons  —  was  no  easy  task  upon  the  income  and  with 
the  opportunities  of  a  lawyer  in  a  Nova  Scotia  village. 
But  their  stay  in  the  British  provinces  was  nearly  at 
an  end.  Barclay's  report  on  the  boundary  had  hardly 
reached  the  Foreign  Office  when  he  was  appointed 
British  Consul-General  for  the  Eastern  States  of  Amer 
ica  in  the  room  of  Sir  John  Temple,  deceased. l 

1  Sir  John  Temple  Bart,  was  the  relative,  Sir  Richard  Temple,  of 
son  of  Robert  Temple  of  Boston,  Stowe  in  Buckinghamshire,  in  1786, 
Mass.  On  the  death?  of  his  distant  he  succeeded  to  this  ancient  "baron- 

95 


96         CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

On  June  15,  1799,  Barclay  and  his  wife  arrived  once 
more  in  New  York  to  find  again  the  home  which  they 
had  lost  nearly  sixteen  years  before.  He  was  now  just 
forty-six ;  she  a  year  younger.  Their  daughters  were 
all  with  them,  but  of  the  sons,  only  Henry  and  Beverley 
accompanied  their  parents  to  New- York.  G-eorge  and 
Anthony,  the  two  little  boys,  were  at  school  at  Wind 
sor,  N.  S. ;  for  the  gentleman  of  genius  at  £30  a  year, 
whom  Colonel  Barclay  had  wished  to  import  from 
Scotland,  had  never  been  discovered.  Thomas  the 
younger  had  also  been  left  behind  at  school;  but  on 
September  1,  1799,  being  then  nearly  sixteen,  H.  M.  S. 
Boston  received  him  aboard  as  a  midshipman,  and 
he  sailed  away  for  his  share  of  glory  and  prize-money. 
De  Lancey,  too,  was  soon  to  leave  Nova  Scotia,  for  on 
January  11,  1800,  he  was  appointed  an  Ensign  in  the 
Forty-first  Regiment  of  Foot,  then  stationed  in  Canada. 

The  summer  of  1799  was  probably  passed  by  Barclay 
and  his  household  near  Flushing ;  but  in  the  Autumn  of 
that  year  he  hired  the  house  No.  142  Greenwich  street, 
at  what  he  considered  the  extravagant  rent  of  £250, 
New- York  currency,  or  $625  a  year.  His  salary  was 
nominally  <£1500  a  year,  but  it  was  paid  with  the 
greatest  irregularity  and  was  subject  to  heavy  deduc 
tions  for  taxes,  office  fees,  and  other  impositions.  Bar 
clay  entertained  largely,  seeing,  as  he  says,  more  com 
pany  in  a  month  than  Sir  John  Temple  in  a  year.  But 
writing  a  couple  of  years  later  to  his  sister  Cornelia  in 
England,  he  complains  that  neither  he  nor  his  wife 
"relish  the  mode  of  life  which  we  are  compelled  to 

etcy.  He  married,  January  20, 1767,  York,  November  17,  1798.  A  monu- 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Governor  ment  erected  to  his  memory  stands 
Bowdoin,  of  Massachusetts ;  was  in  St.  Paul's  Church  on  the  north  side 
appointed  British  Consul-General  in  of  the  chancel.  His  successor's  corn- 
February,  1785,  and  died  in  New-  mission  bears  date  January  26, 1799. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1799-1802  97 

from  my  situation ;  and  yet,"  he  adds,  "  we  are  far  from 
entering  into  the  gay  circles  of  dissipation.  In  two 
years  I  have  been  only  to  one  assembly  and  two  plays, 
to  private  balls  probably  eight  or  ten.  Both  of  us 
grow  old,  are  fond  of  early  hours,  and  have  lost  all  rel 
ish  for  those  gay  Scenes  that  once  afforded  pleasure." 
About  this  period  (for  the  date  is  not  quite  certain) 
Maria  Barclay,  the  second  daughter,  was  married  to 
Simon  Fraser,  a  gentleman  of  the  name  and  family  of 
that  Lord  Lovat  who  "suffered"  in  1745.  Mr.  Fraser 
settled  in  British  Guiana  as  a  planter,  living  on  the  river 
Berbice,  and  so  Maria  disappeared  henceforth  from  the 
family  circle. 

Public  affairs  for  the  first  three  years  after  Barclay's 
return  to  New- York  wore  a  doubtful  aspect.  The  Fed 
eralists  went  out  with  Adams  and  the  Republicans 
came  in  with  Jefferson.  The  troubles  with  England 
were  temporarily  ended,  but  no  man  could  tell  when 
they  might  break  out  again.  With  France  we  were 
actually  at  war.  In  Europe  there  was  no  peace.  Ma- 
rengo  and  Hohenlinden  were  fought  on  land,  and  the 
battle  of  Copenhagen  at  sea.  England  took  Malta  and 
Minorca  and  drove  the  French  from  Egypt.  Pitt  fell 
from  power,  and  Addington  succeeded  him — to  make 
peace  with  France  and  imperil  relations  with  the  United 
States.  And  some  echo  of  these  great  events  found  its 
way  into  New- York,  where  peace  reigned  and  merchants 
were  growing  rich  upon  the  profits  of  the  neutral  trade. 

TO   LORD   GRENVILLE. 

Annapolis,  llth  May,  1799. 
MY  LORD: 

I  was  last  Evening  honored  with  your  Lordships  dispatch 
of  the  19th  of  January  last,  informing  me  of  your  having  had 


98         COEEESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

the  Goodness  to  submit  my  name  to  His  Majesty,  as  a  proper 
person  to  succeed  the  late  Sir  John  Temple,  as  His  Majesty's 
Consul  General  for  the  Eastern  States  of  America,  and  that 
His  Majesty  had  been  graciously  pleased  to  confer  upon  me 
that  appointment.  Also  that  my  commission  would  be  trans 
mitted  to  Mr.  Liston  by  the  next  Packet,  and  that  it  was  His 
Majesty's  pleasure  I  should  remove  to  New  York  with  as 
much  expedition  as  the  situation  of  my  private  affairs  will 
allow. 

Permit  me  to  in  treat  your  Lordship  to  lay  at  His  Majesty  s 
feet,  my  most  humble  acknowledgements  for  this  repeated  in 
stance  of  His  Royal  Favor,  and  with  all  due  submission  to 
assure  His  Majesty  I  shall  by  an  unr emitted  attention  to  my 
duty  endeavor  in  some  degree  to  merit  this  most  gracious 
testimony  of  His  Royal  confidence,  and  I  earnestly  request 
your  Lordship  will  be  pleased  to  accept  of  my  most  grateful 
thanks  for  your  kind  offices,  and  I  trust  my  conduct  will  in 
no  instance  afford  your  Lordship  occasion  to  regret  the  favor 
you  have  conferred  on  me. 

I  shall  with  all  possible  expedition  arrange  my  private  af 
fairs  and  hope  within  a  month  from  this  day  to  leave  this 
Province  for  New  York,  of  which  I  shall  acquaint  Mr.  Liston 
by  the  earliest  conveyance. 


FKOM  ME.  BBOUGHTON. 

Downing  Street,  July  2d,  1799. 
SlE: 

I  was  favored  with  the  receipt  of  your  Letter  on  Saturday 
last  inclosing  a  Power  of  Attorney  to  enable  me  to  receive 
your  Appointments  as  His  Majesty's  Consul  General  to  the 
Eastern  States  of  America.  I  lose  no  time  in  returning  you 
my  thanks  for  this  mark  of  your  Confidence,  and  I  shall  not 
fail  immediately  after  the  receipts  of  any  part  of  your  Allow 
ances  to  pay  the  Balance  over  to  Messrs.  Brook,  Watson  & 
Co.  after  deducting  the  usual  Treasury  and  Exchequer  Fees 
and  the  Agency  of  6:6:0  per  Quarter.  The  Particulars  of 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  99 

which  I  shall  not  fail  to  transmit  by  the  first  Mail  after  such 
Payment  has  been  made. 

It  may  be  proper  to  inform  you  that  the  Civil  List  is  now 
Five  Quarters  in  Arrears  j  so  that  it  will  in  all  probability  be 
some  time  in  April  or  May  1800  before  the  Appointments  due 
5th.  Jany.  1799  are  issued  at  the  Exchequer. 

I  send  you  the  Morning  Herald,  which  altho7  by  no  means 
a  favorite  Paper  of  mine  with  regard  to  Politics,  yet  as  it  cer 
tainly  gives  the  News  and  Lies  of  the  Day  more  in  detail  and 
in  a  more  lively  manner  than  any  other  Journal,  I  have 
selected  it  under  the  idea  that  it  will  prove  the  most  enter 
taining. 

I  am,  &c 

CHAS.  E.  BROUGHTON.1 


TO   LOKD    GRENVILLE. 

New  York,  8th  August,  1799. 
MY  LORD: 

In  my  dispatch  of  the  16th  of  June,  I  stated  to  your  Lord 
ship  the  objection  that  lay  to  the  issuing  of  my  exequatur  as 
His  Majesty's  Consul  General  for  the  Eastern  States  of  America 
in  consequence  of  my  commission  not  having  arrived,  since 
which,  on  a  personal  interview  with  Mr.  Pickering,  the  Ameri 
can  Secretary  of  State  at  Philadelphia,  the  exceptions  have 
been  so  far  obviated  that  letters  Patent  have  issued  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States  recognizing  me  as  His  Majes 
ty's  Consul  General  and  granting  all  the  Priviledges  appertain 
ing  to  that  office.  I  at  the  same  time  received  a  letter  from 
the  Secretary  of  State,  requesting  me  to  forward  my  commis 
sion  as  soon  as  received  that  it  might  be  inrolled  and  an  exe 
quatur  be  made  out.  The  situation,  my  Lord,  of  His  Majesty's 
Ships  of  War,  Packets,  and  Merchant  Vessels  coming  to  this 
and  the  other  ports  in  the  United  States  of  America  is  very 

1  The  writer  of  this  letter  was  a    ficers   as  their  agent  to  settle  ac- 
clerk  in  the  Foreign  Office,  who  was    counts  in  London, 
employed  by  various    consular  of- 


100  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

unpleasant  and  truly  detrimental  to  the  Service.  Captain 
Douglass  of  His  Majesty's  Ship  Boston  who  convoyed  a  num 
ber  of  American  Merchantmen  safe  to  their  respective  ports, 
arrived  at  New  York  about  the  20th  of  June.  The  crew  of  the 
Barge  that  rowed  him  to  shore  were  in  his  presence  invited  by 
a  number  of  persons  who  surrounded  the  Barge,  to  desert  the 
Service,  with  promises  of  better  pay  and  protection.  In  con 
sequence  of  this  several  of  Capt.  Douglasses  best  men  left  the 
barge.  He  complained  to  the  Mayor  of  this  City  who  replied 
that  if  he  could  identify  the  persons  that  seduced  his  men  he 
would  have  them  apprehended.  This  was  impracticable,  being 
a  total  stranger  in  the  City.  His  Majesty's  Packet  boats  in 
variably  lose  a  part  of  the  Crews  by  desertion,  who  the  instant 
they  get  on  shore  are  at  Liberty,  or  what  is  still  worse  and 
more  provoking  are  supported  by  men  whose  employment  it 
is  to  procure  Seamen  for  American  Merchant  Vessels.  If  a 
captain  of  a  packet  was  to  meet  any  of  his  absconding  Seamen 
and  attempted  to  carry  them  by  force  on  board,  it  is  more 
than  probable  they  would  be  rescued  by  a  mob,  but  admitting 
he  succeeded,  a  habeas  corpus  would  again  set  them  at  liberty, 
the  Crimps  being  ever  ready  as  bail.  If  the  Captain  of  the 
Packet  is  either  Plaintiff  or  Defendant,  he  must  remain  in  this 
City  with  his  witnesses  until  the  Cause  is  tried,  a  measure 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  Service.  Of  course  he  is  com 
pelled  to  give  up  the  pursuit.  The  Packets  frequently  leave 
this  with  little  more  than  half  their  compliment  of  Men,  and 
trust  to  Halifax  for  the  remainder.  I  recollect  in  May  last 
one  of  them  was  detained  several  days  in  Halifax  for  want  of 
men,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  Admiral  Vandeput  eventually 
furnished  her  from  his  own  ship.  Merchant  ships  are  in  a 
similar  situation,  and  complaints  to  me  are  daily.  The  enor 
mous  pay  allowed  by  the  Americans  to  Seamen  is  too  great  a 
temptation  for  our  Sailors  to  resist.  I  have  taken  the  liberty 
to  state  the  above  to  your  Lordship  possessed  of  the  facts.  An 
additional  article  to  the  treaty,  authorizing  the  issuing  of  a 
warrant  for  apprehending  British  Seamen  deserting,  with  an 
Act  of  Congress  inflicting  pains  and  penalties  on  persons 
seducing  or  even  taking  into  their  Service  British  Seamen, 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-180&  '  101 

would  effectually  remedy  the  Evil.  Mr.  Listen  informs  me 
that  he  has  had  several  conversations  on  the  subject  with  the 
American  Secretary  of  State,  and  has  hopes  that  something 
will  be  agreed  on  this  year  for  the  preventing  of  these  evils. 

The  expense  of  living  in  this  City  is  so  enormously  ex 
travagant  and  the  number  of  strangers  resorting  to  it,  who 
naturally  expect  invitations  and  attention  from  His  Majesty's 
Consul  so  great,  that  the  Salary  graciously  allowed  me  by  His 
Majesty  will  fall  infinitely  short  of  my  annual  expenses  when 
contracted  by  the  strictest  Oeconomy.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  my  Lord,  I  shall  in  future  presume  to  take,  from  For 
eigners  only,  fees  for  granting  certificates  until  your  Lordships 
pleasure  is  known.  The  annual  amount  may  at  the  utmost 
pay  my  house  rent  in  this  city.  I  consider  it  for  the  Honor 
of  my  Sovereign  and  the  Interest  of  the  Nation,  that  I  should 
live  genteely  and  hospitably  so  as  to  secure  a  good  under 
standing  with  the  onicial  Characters  of  this  Government  and 
all  respectable  strangers  who  may  visit  this  City,  a  measure 
indispensibly  necessary  to  promise  early  information  and  to 
facilitate  business. 


TO   CAPT.   BARRON,    UNITED   STATES   SHIP   CONSTELLATION.1 

Hallitts  Cove  Long  Island  1st  Octr  1799. 
Sm: 

Captain  Champion  of  the  private  armed  British  Merchant 

ship  the acquaints  that  since  his  arrival  in  the  port  of 

New  York,  many  of  his  Seamen  have  deserted  and  left  the  Ship 
in  violation  of  their  shipping  articles,  and  that  some  of  them 
have  been  entertained  at  your  recruiting  rendevous  in  the 
City  and  eventually  entered  and  received  on  board  the  united 

1  The  Constellation  was  built  at  of  the  ship  of  1812.    From  August  2 

Baltimore  and  launched  in  1797 ;  in  to  November  11, 1799,  she  was  com- 

1812  she  was  rebuilt,   and  techni-  manded  by  Captain  Samuel  Barren, 

cally  is  still  afloat;  but  she  has  been  who  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 

repaired  so  much  from  time  to  time  his  brother,  the  unfortunate  James 

that  there  can  be  but  little  left  even  Barron. 

7A 


102       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

States  Frigate  under  your  Command.  I  have  acquainted 
Captain  Champion  of  my  having  no  doubt  but  you  would  on 
a  personal  application  from  him,  deliver  up  such  men  as  be 
long  to  his  Ship,  for  which  purpose  he  now  waits  on  you. 
He  will  inform  you  of  the  very  special  condition  on  which  he 
is  chartered  and  the  very  probable  serious  consequences 
which  will  follow  to  his  owners  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of 
these  Men. 

In  addition  to  the  treaty  existing  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  united  States  of  America  j  I  am  convinced  the  deli 
cate  situations  wherein  those  two  powers  stand  each  to  the 
other  with  respect  to  seamen,  will  have  that  weight  with  you 
which  the  present  case  demands. 

From  the  very  handsome  and  honorable  manner  in  which 
you  have  ever  been  represented;  I  anticipate  a  favorable 
issue  to  this  application. 

As  the  present,  from  the  Constellation  being  under  orders 
for  sailing  the  day  after  tomorrow,  will  probably  be  the  only 
opportunity  I  shall  have  of  writing  you  on  this  Subject  pre 
vious  to  your  return ;  I  am  reluctantly  compelled  to  add,  that 
in  case  men  are  not  given  up  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity 
not  only  of  representing  the  case  officially  to  your  Govern 
ment,  but  of  transmitting  an  authenticated  Statement  of 
Facts  to  be  laid  before  His  Britannic  Majesty,  a  measure  you 
must  be  sensible  fraught  with  the  most  serious  consequences. 


LONDON. 

New  York  2d  Octr  1799. 
MADAM : 

Your  favor  of  the  3 d  of  June  came  to  hand  only  a  few  days 
since  by  the  July  Packet  the  Marquis  of  Kildare.  Accept  my 
best  thanks  for  your  polite  and  very  friendly  congratulations 
on  my  late  appointment  as  His  Majesty s  Consul  General  for 
the  Eastern  States  of  America. 

I  am  gratefully  sensible  of  this  testimony  of  Royal  con 
fidence  and  favor ;  and  Mrs-  Barclay  and  myself  much  grati- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  103 

fied  in  being  once  more  united  in  the  same  circle  with  many 
of  those  relations  and  friends  we  so  reluctantly  parted  with 
at  the  close  of  the  American  War. — An  interval,  however,  of 
fifteen  years  has  made  an  astonishing  alteration  in  this  City ; 
so  that  I  feel  myself  almost  a  perfect  stranger  in  the  place  of 
my  nativity.1  —  By  removing  to  Nova  Scotia,  new  connec 
tions  and  acquaintances  were  formed  to  whom  from  their 
amiable  manners  and  sterling  worth  we  became  particularly 
attached  &  of  course  the  parting  with  these  in  a  great 
measure  damped  the  pleasure  a  removal  to  this  Country 
would  otherwise  have  produced;  in  addition  to  this  the 
healthy  and  charming  climate  of  Nova  Scotia  was  reluctantly 
resigned  by  us  for  that  of  New  York  which  never  was  healthy 
and  latterly  has  become  every  Summer  really  pestilential. 
New  York  at  this  moment  is  nearly  deserted  owing  to  the 
prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever.  I  have  not  been  in  it  for  up 
wards  of  a  fortnight,  nor  shall  I  enter  it  again  until  the  fever 
is  removed.  —  All  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Law  have  also  re 
moved  into  the  Country,  so  that  at  present  it  is  not  in  my 
power  to  sanction  with  their  opinion,  that  which  I  shall  give 
you  of  my  own. 

You  are  undoubtedly  entitled  Madam  to  your  dower  in  the 
Lands  whereof  my  worthy  friend,  your  husband,  was  pos 
sessed.2  This  dower  will  be  valuable  in  proportion  to  the 
Lands,  and  the  State  of  Cultivation  they  are  in  —  at  all  Events 
your  dower  is  worth  some  thing  and  you  may  safely  make  the 
experiment,  because  you  will  receive  more  than  the  trifling 
costs  you  will  be  put  to.  The  State  of  New  York  I  understand 
have  appointed  Commissioners  to  enquire  into  claims  of  dower 
and  to  report  what  they  consider  as  an  equitable  equivalent. 
This  in  your  Situation  will  be  better  than  being  put  into  the 
possession  of  wild  or  remote  lands  for  life,  because  whatever 
they  report  is  given  you  as  a  satisfaction  for  your  dower. 

1  The  population  of  New-York  in  when  a  boy.    He  was  for  many  years 
1783  was   estimated   at  24,000 ;    in  Attorney-General   of  the  Province. 
1799  it  was  upward  of  60,000.  Having  been  attainted  by  the  Act  of 

2  John  Tabor  Kempe  was  a  native  1779,  he  removed  to  England,  where 
of  England,  but  came  to  New- York  he  died. 


104  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

The  Season  will  be  too  far  advanced  before  this  will  get  to 
hand  for  you  to  transmit  me  any  original  papers,  so  that  you 
had  better  postpone  sending  them  until  March  next,  either  in 
a  packet  or  Man  of  War,  the  latter  is  the  most  safe.  In  the 
mean  time  forward  by  the  first  conveyance  your  letter  of  At 
torney  with  a  memorandum  or  description  of  the  lands  Mr 
Kempe  possessed  and  in  which  you  claim  a  dower  —  Situation, 
boundaries,  and  number  of  Acres,  together  with  the  title  un 
der  which  he  held  them  j  and  if  there  is  any  indorsement  on 
the  Grants  or  Deeds  of  their  inrolment  or  recording,  annex  an 
exact  copy  of  it  that  we  may  refer  to  the  Registry. 

It  will  afford  me  real  pleasure  in  this  and  every  other  in 
stance  to  render  you  or  any  of  the  family  every  service  in  my 
power.  Mrs  Barclay  unites  with  me  in  sincere  regards  to 
your  daughters  and  yourself. 


TO   ME.    GKEENWOOD. 

New  York,  2d  Octr  1799. 
SIR: 

Inclosed  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  I  received  from  His  R. 
H.,  the  Duke  of  Kent,  by  the  packet  from  Nova  Scotia,1  in 
which  he  advises  me  to  apply  to  you  on  the  Subject  of  procur 
ing  a  Lieutenancy  for  my  son  De  Lancey  Barclay  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible  in  order  that  he  may  the  sooner  have  permis 
sion  to  purchase  a  Company.  To  effect  this  as  there  is  not 
a  Lieuty  in  the  Royal  Fusiliers  vacant  at  present,  it  is  neces 
sary  my  Son  commences  with  the  first  step,  that  of  an  Ensign, 
and  his  R.  H.  points  to  one  you  have  the  disposal  of  at  the 
regulation  —  he  then  proceeds  to  observe  that  Lieutenancys 
are  daily  to  be  had  on  similar  terms,  and  recommends  me  to 
apply  to  you  in  his  name  for  your  interest  and  good  offices  in 

1  The  Duke  of  Kent  had  resided  at  Duke  had  at  this  time  just  returned 

Halifax  as  Commander  of  the  Forces  to  Halifax  after  a  short  visit  to  Eng- 

from  1794  to  1798,  during  all  of  which  land.      He   was   the  father  of  the 

time  Colonel  Barclay  was  Speaker  present  Queen  of  England, 
of  the  Provincial  Assembly.     The 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  105 

favor  of  my  son.  The  directions  of  his  R.  H.  to  me  will, 
I  trust,  be  a  sufficient  apology  for  my  commencing  thus  ab 
ruptly  a  correspondence,  and  requesting  your  assistance  in 
effecting  my  wishes. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  war,  and  under  the 
erroneous  opinion  that  its  continuance  would  be  but  of  short 
duration,  I  was  induced  to  put  my  Son  De  Lancey  Barclay  at 
the  solicitation  of  Col.  Sir  John  Wentworth  into  the  Royal 
Nova  Scotia  Regiment,  wherein  he  has  served  five  years  in  the 
respective  ranks  of  Ensign,  Lieut.,  and  Captain,  Commanding 
the  Grenadier  Company  upwards  of  a  year  on  a  detached  Com 
mand  at  Cape  Breton.  When  he  first  entered  the  service  it 
was  not  my  intention  he  should  continue  it  as  a  profession  ;  he, 
however,  appears  fond  of  it,  and  in  compliance  with  his  re 
quest  I  now  wish  him  in  a  regular  old  Reg*.  He  has  entered 
his  20th  year,  is  well  grown,  has  had  a  liberal  education,  is  a 
very  handsome  young  man,  and  free  from  every  vice  or  fash 
ionable  dissipation. 


FEOM   COX   &   GREENWOOD. 

London,  6th.  Feby,  1800. 
SIR: 

We  have  the  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
favor  of  the  2nd.  Oct.  to  Mr.  Greenwood  respecting  the  Pur 
chase  of  a  Commission  in  the  Army  for  your  Son  whom  you 
are  desirous  of  attaining  the  Rank  of  Captain  for  as  soon  as 
possible. 

In  this  we  shall  be  particularly  happy  to  forward  your 
wishes  when  it  can  be  done ;  but  you  must  be  apprized  that 
from  the  late  Regulations  of  the  Commander  in  Chief  an 
Officer  cannot  be  permitted  to  Purchase  a  Company  until  he 
shall  have  served  two  years  as  a  Subaltern. 

There  being  an  opportunity  of  purchasing  an  Ensign cy  in 
the  41st.  Regt.  lately  gone  to  Quebec  we  conceived  it  would 
be  more  agreeable  to  you  to  have  your  Son  in  one  in  America 
than  any  where  else,  especially  as  he  goes  into  that  Regiment 


106        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

very  advantageously  there  being  other  vacancies  and  we  be 
lieve  he  will  be  first  or  second  for  the  Purchase  of  a  Lieuty. 
when  one  falls  vacant  in  the  Regiment  ;  which  is  the  only 
chance  of  his  obtaining  a  Lieuty.  as  they  are  become  now 
very  scarce  and  difficult  to  be  had. 

We  have  also  the  pleasure  to  acquaint  you  that  the  En- 
signcy  was  purchased  under  the  Regulation,  having  been  got 
for  350  Guis.  Ensign  Barclay's  Commission  is  Dated  the  11th 
January. 

It  will  be  necessary  for  you  to  write  to  the  Commanding 
Officer  of  the  Regt.  Lieut.  Colonel  Thomas,  stating  when 
Ensign  Barclay  will  join. 

We  have  etc. 

Cox  &  GREENWOOD. 


TO  HIS  MAJESTY'S  POSTMASTERS-GENEKAL. 

New  York  Consul  Generals  Office  15  March  1800. 
MY  LORDS: 

His  Majesty s  Packet  Boats  and  Merchant  Vessels  having 
ever  since  my  arrival  at  this  place  suffered  great  inconveni 
ence  and  occasional  delay  in  consequence  of  the  desertion  of 
their  Men,  and  the  impracticability  of  regaining  them  unless 
by  the  tedious  and  ordinary  process  at  Common  Law;  in 
duced  me  to  represent  the  grievance  to  some  of  the  leading 
members  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  this  State,  and 
to  request  them  to  procure  a  Law  for  the  summary  trial  of 
deserting,  or  absenting  Seamen;  A  measure  founded  in 
Justice  and  due  to  all  Nations  in  alliance  with  the  United 
States  of  America. 

I  am  happy  to  acquaint  your  Lordships  that  my  application 
has  succeeded  and  have  the  honor  to  inclose  your  Lordships  a 
G-azette  containing  the  Act  passed  for  that  purpose. 

Your  Lordships  will  observe  from  the  words  of  the  Act 
that  the  Agreement  by  the  Seamen  to  perform  a  Voyage  must 
be  made  in  writing,  I  take  the  Liberty  to  suggest  this,  from 


1799-1802  107 

the  Captains  of  Pacquets  having  repeatedly  informed  me  that 
it  was  not  customary  for  seamen  employed  in  that  Service  to 
sign  Articles.  Permit  me  to  add  it  will  advance  his  Majestys 
Service  in  these  parts,  to  direct  that  the  Seamen  in  future 
employed  in  the  Pacquets  shall  on  entering  sign  articles,  and 
that  the  Articles  of  Agreement  in  future  to  be  used  be  cor 
rectly  and  explicitly  drawn  by  a  professional  Gentleman. 


TO  LOKD   GRENVILLE. 

New  York  15  March  1800. 
MY  LORD: 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  that  I  have 
through  the  intervention  of  some  of  the  leading  Characters  in 
the  house  of  Representatives  of  this  State  procured  an  act  for 
the  summary  trial  of  Seamen  deserting  or  absenting  themselves 
from  the  Ships  to  whom  they  are  articled  to  perform  a  voyage ; 
a  copy  of  which  act  is  inclosed. 

The  grievance  had  become  almost  intolerable  to  His  Majes 
ty's  Subjects  and  the  Pacquet  service  in  many  instances  de 
layed.  These  Evils  I  had  stated  to  Mr  Liston  as  well  as  your 
Lordship,  and  finding  from  him  that  it  was  improbable  any 
immediate  general  remedy  would  be  administered,  I  considered 
it  advisable  to  effect,  if  in  my  power,  a  partial  one  confined  to 
this  State.  I  hope  the  measure  will  meet  your  Lordships 
approbation. 

By  this  conveyance  I  write  His  Majesty's  Postmasters  Geii- 
eral  on  the  Subject,  inclosing  them  the  Act,  and  recommending 
the  Seamen  in  that  Service,  being  in  future  under  Articles,  to 
enable  me  to  recover  them  in  cases  of  desertion. 


TO   ME.   BBOUGHTON. 

New  York  6th  May  1800. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favors  of  the  24  &  31  of  January  I  received  by  the 
Earl  Gower  Packet.   The  letters  accompanying  them  addressed 


108        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

to  persons  in  this  City  were  immediately  delivered,  and  those 
for  Canada  forwarded  the  first  Conveyance.  I  am  much 
obliged  to  you  for  the  purchase  of  my  two  half  Lottery  tickets 
and  your  attention  in  forwarding  the  numbers ;  pray  favor  me 
with  their  fate.1  Will  you  do  me  the  favor  to  send  me  a  hand 
Bill  of  the  Rates  for  Life  Insurance  and  Endowment  of  Chil 
dren  at  21  years  old.  I  will  thank  you  to  discontinue  my  Lon 
don  paper,  as  we  generally  have  later  European  news  by  pri 
vate  Conveyances  than  by  the  Packets.  Instead  of  these  send 
me  the  Antijacobin  Reviews  and  any  political  Pamphlets  of 
merit  from  time  to  time  published. 


TO   LORD   GEENVILLE. 

New  York  7th  May  1800. 
MY  LORD: 

I  did  myself  the  Honor  of  writing  your  Lordship  by  the  last 
Packet  on  the  Subject  of  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  this 
State ;  a  printed  copy  of  which  I  took  the  Liberty  to  inclose  to 
your  Lordship. 

It  is  with  no  small  degree  of  disappointment  that  I  am  un 
der  the  necessity  of  acquainting  your  Lordship  that  I  was  pre 
mature  in  the  Communication,  and  that  the  Bill  after  having 
passed  the  house  of  Representatives  and  Senate  of  this  State, 
was  rejected  by  the  Council  of  Revision.  Permit  me,  however, 
in  my  own  Justification,  to  remark  that  previous  to  the  meet 
ing  of  the  Legislature  I  had  recommended  the  Bill  to  two  or 
three  of  the  leading  members  who  promised  to  bring  it  for 
ward,  and  that  I  not  only  had  the  public  prints  of  this  City  as 
the  Channel  of  information  that  the  Bill  had  passed,  but  also 
the  Mayor  of  the  City  who  read  me  an  extract  from  Mr-  Rigg's 
letter  (a  member  of  the  Legislature)  wherein  he  desired  the 
Mayor  to  congratulate  me  on  the  subject.  With  such  testi- 

1  Barclay  was  constantly  buying  clay,  of  Bury  Hill.  These  ventures 
State  lottery  tickets  in  London  either  seem  to  have  "been  uniformly  unsuc- 
through  Mr.  Broughton  or  David  Bar-  cessf  ul. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  109 

mony,  I  considered  it  a  matter  beyond  all  doubt,  and  accord 
ingly  gave  it  to  your  Lordship,  as  I  was  convinced  it  would 
afford  you  Satisfaction. 

The  Bill  was  rejected  by  the  Council  of  Revision  upon  a  prin 
ciple  that  it  was  a  commercial  regulation  which  appertained 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  At  the  next  meeting  of 
Congress  I  shall  endeavor  to  get  an  Act  of  this  kind  passed. 


TO   MRS.   MARGARET   DE   LANCEY,1    BATH,   ENGLAND. 

New  York  8th  Novr  1800. 
MY  DEAR  MADAM: 

I  wrote  you  a  hasty  line  by  the  Lady  Arabella  Packet,  be 
ing  at  that  time  very  unwell  with  an  intermitting  fever,  from 
which  I  am  now  happily  recovered,  though  much  reduced. 
In  that  letter  I  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  your  favor  cover 
ing  the  letter  of  Attorney,  and  my  readiness  to  render  you 
any  Service  in  my  power.  I  at  the  same  time  Stated  to  you 
my  having  retained  Mr  Harison2  as  your  Council,  and  ac 
quainted  you  that  Mr  Hoffman  being  the  Attorney  General  of 
this  State  rendered  it  improper  for  him  to  act  for  you.  I 
took  the  liberty  at  the  same  time  to  give  you  my  opinion  re- 

l  Margaret  Be  Lancey  was  the  wid-  of  course,  became  entitled  to  dower 

ow  of  the  James  De  Lancey  who  was  in  all  the  lands  sold. 
Agent  of  the  American  Loyalists  in        2  Richard  Harison   was    born   in 

England.     She  was  the  daughter  of  New- York,   January  23,    1748,   and 

Chief    Justice     William    Allen     of  died  in  the  same  city,  December  7, 

Pennsylvania,    the   friend  of    Ben-  1829.      He     was    graduated    from 

jamiii  West  and  Benjamin   Frank-  Kings  College  in  1764.     He  married 

lin.    James  De  Lancey  died  at  Bath,  first,   Catharine,   daughter    of    Dr. 

1799.     He  had  been  attainted  by  Jones  of  Long  Island ;  second,  Fran- 

the  Act  of  1779,  and  his  property  in  ces,    daughter    of    George  Duncan 

the  city  of  New-York  had  been  sold  Ludlow,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 

at  various  times  prior  to  February,  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province  of 

1787.     A  full  account  of  these  sales  New-York,  and  afterward  the  first 

will  be  found  in  Mr.  E.  F.  De  Lan-  Chief  Justice   of    New  Brunswick, 

cey's  notes  to  Jones's  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  Harison  was  inclined  to   the   Tory 

Vol.  II,  pp.  540-559.      His  widow,  side,  but  in  1789  he  was  chosen  one 


110        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

specting  the  mode  of  obtaining  your  dower  or  compensation 
in  lieu  of  it  5  and  Mr  Harisons  opinion  on  the  same  subject. 
I  shall  repeat  these,  least  by  an  accident  to  the  Lady  Arabella 
you  may  be  deprived  of  my  former  letter. 

Having  fully  considered  your  claim  of  dower, — the  very 
great  number  of  Tenants  of  the  freehold  who  must  be  sued — 
the  probable  delay  before  you  will  be  put  in  possession.  The 
forcible  reasons  why  the  Major  part  of  the  Proprietors  will 
prefer  your  having  the  actual  possession  of  one  third  of  the 
Lots  and  houses.  The  enormous  expense  attending  a  litiga 
tion,  where  there  will  probably  be  not  less  than  three  or  four 
hundred  Suits,  your  own  costs  of  which,  you  must  defray. 
The  immense  number  of  vacant  lots,  which  altho'  they  are 
valued  at  about  £100  this  Currency  each,  do  not,  nor  would 
they  at  any  future  period  in  your  hands,  produce  any  annual 
rent.  The  precarious  tenor  of  life — The  loss  your  Children 
would  sustain  by  your  dying  at  the  earliest  within  fifteen 
years.  The  length  of  time  it  would  require  to  make  the  rents 
issues  and  profits  of  your  third  part  of  this  Estate,  after  de 
ducting  six  hundred  per  annum  as  Interest  for  the  Capital, 
net  you  a  clear  principal  of  £10,000  this  Currency.  The  im 
possibility  of  your  renting  unimproved  lots  and  parts  of  Lots, 
from  the  uncertainty  of  your  Life  —  The  difficulty  of  obtain 
ing  tenants,  to  occupy  a  third  part  of  a  house,  containing  not 
more  than  two  small  rooms  on  each  floor  and  those  houses 
generally  not  more  than  two  Stories.  The  defalcations  in 
rents,  where  Tenants  are  poor  and  the  expense  of  employing 

of  the  delegates  from  the  city  of  reported  in  the  early  New-York  re- 
New-York  to  the  Poughkeepsie  ports.  Upon  the  organization  of 
Convention  that  ratified  the  Fed-  the  Federal  Government  he  was 
eral  Constitution,  his  colleagues  appointed  by  General  Washington 
being  John  Jay,  Richard  Morris,  U.  S.  District  Attorney.  From 
John  SlossHobart,  Alexander  Ham-  1798  to  1799  he  was  Recorder  of  the 
ilton,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Isaac  city.  For  forty-one  years  — 1788  to 
Roosevelt,  James  Duane,  and  Nicho-  1829  —  he  was  one  of  the  Trustees 
las  Low.  He  was  for  many  years  of  Columbia  College,  and  in  1823 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  New-York  was  Chairman  of  the  Board.  He 
bar,  and  counsel  in  a  large  propor-  also  held  the  office  of  Comptroller 
tion  of  the  more  important  cases  of  the  Trinity  Church  Corporation. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  111 

an  Agent  to  take  care  of  the  Property  and  receive  the  rents — 
With  numberless  other  serious  objections;  I  say  after  having 
maturely  weighed  all  these,  it  was  my  decided  opinion  that 
you  had  better  take  up  with  a  compensation  from  the  State 
of  New  York,  attended  with  but  little  expense  and  which  you 
would  almost  immediately  receive,  than  to  involve  yourself  in 
Litigation,  and  place  a  very  handsome  Sum  on  the  casual 
Event  of  your  Life  admitting,  as  I  consider  it,  to  be,  equal  to 
that  of  any  other  person  for  fifteen  years  to  come.  It  would 
take  up  too  much  time,  and  tire  your  patience  was  I  to  give 
you  at  length  my  reasons,  on  each  of  the  objections  men 
tioned.  I  shall  therefore  only  say  they  are  admitted  as 
natural  by  Mr  Harison. 

A  combination  or  conspiracy  very  probably  may  also  be 
entered  into  by  the  Proprietors  to  dissuade  persons  from  be 
coming  your  Tenants,  and  to  threaten  them  with  innumerable 
unpleasant  incidents  in  case  they  do  it.  Their  side  of  the 
Question,  however  equitable  yours  may  be,  will  be  the  popu 
lar  one ;  in  a  Country  where  the  Claims  of  Loyalty  are  con 
sidered  by  the  vulgar  as  usurpation. 

You  may  perhaps  think  I  write  in  strong  terms,  and  that 
my  apprehensions  are  unreasonable.  The  greater  part  of 
what  I  have  stated  will  inevitably  come  to  pass,  and  the 
remainder  is  founded  on  probabilities  approaching  to  cer 
tainties.  I  have  measured  all  these  on  the  Scale  of  your 
Interest,  and  by  opposing  the  one  to  the  other,  have  no  hesi 
tation  in  saying,  that  a  Sum  far  short  of  what  might  fairly 
be  calculated  from  the  rents  of  the  Estate,  admitting  solvent 
tenants  could  be  procured,  will  be  preferable  to  the  uncertain 
amount  you  will  receive  in  consequence  of  being  unable  to 
obtain  tenants,  and  the  losses  incurred  by  many  of  them  being 
unable  to  pay  their  rents — With  regard  to  lots  on  which  there 
are  no  buildings  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  Persons  who  would 
even  be  at  the  expense  of  inclosing  them,  when  they  know 
their  possession  depends  on  your  life.  Was  the  property 
situate  in  a  valuable  part  of  the  City  and  vested  in  decent 
houses,  the  annual  rents  might  be  calculated  to  almost  a  frac 
tion — But  your  lots  are  in  the  Suburbs,  which  may  be  said 


112  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

to  be  half  town  half  Country.1  It  is  impossible  to  say  what 
the  State  may  allow  you :  but  at  the  lowest  valuation  I  should 
suppose  not  less  than  25,000  Dollars,  and  possibly  more  than 
double  that  Sum.  On  this  occasion  I  should  strive  to  get  the 
most  for  you.  But  every  thing  considered  I  really  think 
even  25,000  dollars  in  hand,  better  than  a  general  litigation. 

Mr  Harison  differs  in  Sentiment  with  me  5  and  thinks  you 
will  advance  your  interest  by  applying  to  or  prosecuting  the 
Individual  Proprietors.  Having  his  opinion  and  mine,  it  re 
mains  for  you  to  decide  and  to  send  me  your  orders  without 
loss  of  time,  providing  duplicates  and  triplicates  of  letters. 

If  we  are  to  prosecute  it  will  be  indispensibly  necessary  for 
you  to  send  me  out  all  the  Title  deeds  for  any  part  of  the  Es 
tate,  not  only  in  the  Bowery,  but  in  broadway  opposite  the 
Estate  Mr  DeLancey  gave  to  his  brother  John.2  I  think  there 
was  also  property  in  other  parts  of  the  State.  Let  regular 
and  correct  copies  of  them  be  made  and  taken  to  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  London  to  examine  and  certify,  and  leave  them  with 
him  until  the  Event  is  known,  whether  the  originals  have 
come  safe  to  my  hands  or  not.  Should  a  treaty  of  Peace  be 
entered  into  between  the  States  and  France,  it  will  be  most 
safe  to  send  the  papers  out  in  some  good  safe  American  Ship, 
delivered  to  a  Gentleman  Passenger,  or  to  the  Master,  if  a  de 
cent  Man.  It  may  be  necessary  also  to  prove  Mr  DeLancey's 
death.  Furnish  me,  therefore,  with  the  name  of  the  Parson  who 
can  attest  to  his  person  and  demise.  It  will  be  best  to  have 
this  testimony  also  taken  by  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London.  In 
form  me  if  the  Witness  can  attend  before  him.  Proof  of  your 
Marriage  will  be  required  and  of  your  being  alive  at  the  time 
that  proof  was  taken.  Was  your  Brother,  Mr  Andrew  Allen, 
present  at  your  marriage,  or  who  was. 

I  have  employed  Beverly  Eobinson,  Grandson  of  the  late 
Col.  Robinson,  a  young  Gentleman  of  merit  and  abilities,  rec- 

1  They  lay  east  of    the  Bowery,  2  These  lots  were  at  the  corner  of 

between     Division      and     Stanton  Broadway  and  Little  Queen  (Cedar) 

streets,    in  what    is  now    perhaps  street.       Brother    John    was  John 

the  most  densely    populated    spot  Peter  De  Lancey,  of  Mamaroneck, 

in  the  world.  father  of  the  Bishop. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  113 

ommended  to  me  by  Mr  Harison  as  your  Attorney.  And  1 
think  it  will  be  most  for  your  Interest  to  engage  Mr  Cadwal- 
lader  Golden,  the  Assistant  Attorney  General  of  the  district,1 
as  Council  with  Mr  Harison,  he  having  prosecuted  several 
claims  for  dower  and  compounded  to  great  advantage  with  the 
State.  He  informs  me  of  what  Mr  Harison  was  ignorant,  that 
the  State  will  agree  in  settling  of  the  Sum  to  be  paid  you,  to 
my  nominating  two  5  and  the  Commissioners,  one  Appraiser, 
who  will  value  the  property  at  what  it  is  at  present  worth ; 
from  whence,  after  making  a  small  deduction  of  ten  or  at  the 
utmost  fifteen  per  Cent.,  they  will  calculate  the  Sum  total  by 
the  London  tables  on  Lives  and  allow  you  whatever  sum  these 
tables  direct.  Mr  Harison  told  me  the  Commissioners  would 
only  take  the  Sum  for  which  the  Estate  sold,  which  was  about 
£100,000  this  Currency.  Now  I  suppose  the  Estate  fairly 
valued  could  not  come  short  of  £500,000  j  of  course  your  com 
pensation,  allowing  the  Commissioners  deducted  even  a  fifth, 
would  be  far  above  what  I  have  stated  it. 


TO   ME.   HARTSHORNS,   HALIFAX. 

New  York  5th  Decr  1800. 

MY  DEAR  HARTSHORNE: 

I  am  at  this  moment  favored  with  your  most  kind  letter  of 
the  11th  of  November  and  shall  reply  to  the  latter  part  without 
delay  in  the  hope  of  getting  it  on  board  a  vessel  bound  for  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  being  more  than  anxious  to  remove 
from  Sir  John  Wentworth's  mind  any  unfavorable  suggestions 
which  must  tend  to  lessen  me  in  his  good  opinion. 

You  are  no  stranger  to  my  Sentiments  with  regard  to  Sir 
John,  or  of  the  grateful  Sense  I  entertain  of  his  uniform 
friendly  behavior  towards  me  and  of  the  many  essential  favors 

1  Cadwallader  D.  Golden,  a  grand-  Barclay's.     He  was  at  this  time  As- 

son  of  the  old  Lieutenant-Governor,  sistant  District  Attorney  of  the  U.S., 

and  therefore  a  first  cousin  of  Mrs.  and  was  afterward  Mayor  of  the  city. 
8 


114       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

received  at  his  hands.  I  will  therefore  thank  you  candidly  to 
declare  what  I  have  repeatedly  remarked  in  confidence  to  yon 
respecting  him  and  the  obligation  I  felt  myself  under  for  his 
marked  predilection  towards  me.  I  am  satisfied  I  have  always 
been  regarded  by  him  as  a  confidential  friend,  and  I  have  the 
satisfaction  to  feel  that  my  conduct  has  generally  met  his  ap 
probation,  and  that  in  no  one  instance  have  I  ever  behaved  to 
him  or  any  other  Man  living  with  duplicity.  He  possesses  my 
utmost  regards,  and  there  is  no  person  to  whom  I  should  more 
readily  apply  for  advice  had  I  an  object  in  contemplation ;  in 
deed,  I  consider  myself  in  some  measure  bound  to  do  so,  hav 
ing  on  former  occasions  consulted  him,  and  always  obtained 
his  ready  aid  and  interest.  From  these  remarks  it  is  scarce 
necessary  for  me  to  contradict  the  report  mentioned  at  the  foot 
of  your  letter,  to  wit,  "  tliat  I  was  trying  to  obtain  the  Govern 
ment  of  Nova  Scotia"  Accept  my  thanks  for  the  reply  you 
made  the  Governor  when  he  mentioned  the  report.  You  will,  I 
hope,  continue  your  friendship  in  contradicting  on  any  future 
occasion  suggestions  tending  to  my  injury  until  you  have 
reason  to  alter  your  opinion  of  me. 

I  have  never  made  any  application  directly  or  indirectly  for 
the  Government  or  the  reversion  of  it  in  case  of  Sir  Johns  re 
moval  or  demise.  Neither  have  I  in  writing  or  verbally  ex 
pressed  a  wish  or  sentiment  on  the  Subject  to  any  person.  Had 
such  a  measure  been  contemplated  you  would  have  been  the 
most  probable  person  to  whom  I  should  have  communicated 
my  Sentiments.  This  report  is  similar  to  that  you  mentioned 
to  me  last  Winter  respecting  the  Government  of  New  Bruns 
wick.  I  received  on  that  subject  not  less  than  twenty  letters, 
several  of  which  were  congratulatory  of  the  appointment  hav 
ing  taken  place,  and  I  have  little  doubt  but  Governor  Carleton 
imagines  that  I  really  did  apply.  Many  of  my  friends,  and  some 
of  the  first  consideration  in  Nova  Scotia  and  in  England  have 
in  their  letters  lamented  my  leaving  Nova  Scotia,  and  hinted 
that  they  hoped  yet  to  see  me  filling  an  office  of  responsibility  in 
that  Province.  I  had  no  doubt  they  meant  the  Government ; 
still,  so  little  did  I  think  of  it,  that  I  have  in  no  one  instance 
ever  noticed  the  latter  part  of  their  remarks.  It  is  not  impos- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  115 

sible  but  they  or  some  other  persons  may  have  written  that  on 
the  demise  of  Sir  John  it  was  probable  I  would  succeed  to 
the  Government,  and  from  such  an  hint,  it  may  have  grown 
into  a  confirmed  report  of  my  soliciting  for  it.  Assure  Sir 
John  he  will  ever  find  me  to  be  his  zealous  friend,  incapable  of 
doing  an  act  incompatible  with  honor  or  candor.  That  it 
would  be  doing  violence  to  my  feelings  to  accept  of  any  ap 
pointment  at  the  expense  even  of  a  stranger;  and  of  course 
that  I  am  incapable  of  soliciting  the  removal  of  any  person 
from  office  to  make  way  for  myself.  If  these  are  my  prin 
ciples,  judging  of  my  affection  by  that  he  bears  to  me,  he  will 
be  readily  satisfied  that  the  report  was  without  foundation. 


TO   LORD    GRENVILLE. 

New  York  5  Decr.  1800. 
MY  LORD: 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  your  Lordship  Quarterly  returns 
of  the  Imports  and  Exports  to  and  from  this  Port  from  the 
first  of  September  to  the  30th  of  November  last  past. 

It  may  perhaps  not  be  disagreeable  to  your  Lordship  to  be 
informed  that  it  is  more  than  probable  Mr  Adams  and  Mr  Pinck- 
ney  will  be  elected  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States.  Which  of  the  two  will,  by  having  the  Majority  of 
Votes  be  President  is  uncertain,  I  however  suspect  Mr  Adams 
will  be  reelected. 


TO   ME.   BOND. 

New  York  29th  Decr  1800. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Vice  Admiral  Sir  Wm  Parker  commanding  his  Majesty s 
Ships  in  America  has  written  to  me  that  an  armed  Ship  named 
the  Faustina  which  sailed  from  New  York  some  time  in  April 
last,  had  on  a  former  Voyage  captured  and  destroyed  certain 
Merchant  Vessels  belonging  to  His  Majesty  Subjects,  that  he 


116        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

was  apprehensive  she  would  commit  similar  depredations  dur 
ing  her  present  Voyage  —  That  she  has  long  been  engaged  in 
a  contraband  trade  with  His  Majestys  Enemies ;  and  that  tho' 
she  is  well  adapted  to  all  the  purposes  of  Commerce,  she  is  in 
every  respect  equipped  for  War ;  and  on  meeting  with  British 
Vessels  regulates  her  Conduct  by  the  Force  they  display,  by 
hoisting  the  Colours  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  the 
presence  of  our  Ships  of  War  or  armed  Vessels  of  superior  or 
equal  force  and  those  of  Spain  when  she  meets  Merchant  Ves 
sels  or  small  Privateers  and  acts  as  such — He  wishes  to  know 
the  real  Character  and  Pursuits  of  this  Ship,  particularly  the 
object  and  destination  of  her  present  Voyage. —  From  the  best 
information  that  I  can  obtain  in  this  place,  from  public  and  pri 
vate  Channels,  a  ship  of  the  name  of  Faustina  has  not  cleared 
out  from  this  Port  during  the  present  year;  nor  can  I  discover 
that  there  is  a  ship  of  that  name  owned  in  this  State.  A 
Spanish  armed  ship  named  the  Astiganaga  or  Aristazaraga 
sailed  from  hence  in  April  last  (nominally)  to  Montevideo  in 
la  Plata,  but  as  was  generally  suspected  to  cruize  on  the  Coast 
of  Africa  for  some  time  for  British  Vessels. —  I  am  of  opinion 
this  is  the  same  Ship  the  Admiral  enquires  after,  and  it  is  pos 
sible  she  may  have  a  false  set  of  papers,  purporting  her  to  be 
an  American  Ship  named  the  Faustina. —  Should  this  be  the 
case  I  can  give  the  Admiral  the  best  information  existing  here 
respecting  her,  and  he  will  be  ennabled  to  judge  whether  it  is 
the  same  vessel,  by  the  list  of  British  ships  she  captured  on 
her  leaving  this  and  previous  to  her  departure  from  the  Coasts 
of  the  United  States  — 

Least  however  I  may  be  mistaken  in  my  conjectures,  permit 
me  to  request  you  will  make  enquiry  at  Philadelphia,  if  there 
is  a  ship  of  that  name  belonging  to  that  Port,  or  if  any  ship 
of  that  name  has  cleared  out  from  thence  answering  the  above 
description,  also  the  owners  name,  her  pursuits  and  present 
destination  —  where  she  is  now  supposed  to  be,  and  the  earliest 
probable  period  of  her  return. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  add  that  the  utmost  caution  and 
secrecy  are  necessary  in  investigations  of  this  nature,  where 
the  fears  and  suspicions  not  only  of  the  owners,  but  the  un- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  117 

derwriters  are  all  alive  from  the  sailing  of  each  ship  until  her 
safe  return  into  port  —  Should  it  be  necessary  to  expend  a 
small  Sum  to  effect  the  above  purposes  I  will  readily  pay  it, 
as  I  can  have  no  doubt  but  the  Admiral  will  readily  repay  the 
same. 


FKOM  DE  LANCEY  BAECLAY. 

Montreal  26th,  January,  1801. 
MY  DEAR  MAMMA  : 

I  cannot  let  another  opportunity  pass  without  writing  to  my 
best  of  Mothers.  A  description  of  my  very  disagreeable  and 
tedious  Journey  here  you  undoubtedly  have  seen  in  my  letters 
to  my  dear  Papa.  I  asure  you  the  cake  you  or  my  dear 
Maria  put  in  my  Portmanteau  was  very  acceptable  to  me  and 
my  fellow  travellers  the  night  I  spent  in  the  woods ;  it  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  express  my  feelings  while  I  was  eating  it ; 
gratitude,  with  my  dear  Parents  &c.  &c.  occupied  my  mind, 
and  thinking  how  unhappy  you  would  have  been  had  you 
known  my  situation,  while  I  was  only  a  little  uncomfortable. 
I  am  living  at  Sir  Johns  which  Lady  Johnson  has  insisted  on 
I  shall  make  my  home,  she  has  frequently  told  me  the  time  she 
spent  at  West  Chester  with  you  was  the  happiest  part  of  her 
life,  she  made  me  a  present  of  three  black  martins  for  a  Cap 
which  I  suppose  would  have  cost  me  a  Guinea  a  piece ;  I  re 
ceive  the  greatest  attention  both  from  her  and  Sir  John.1  I 
am  sorry  to  say  Lady  Johnson  intends  going  home  in  the 
spring  I  am  sure  she  will  be  much  missed  in  this  place  You 
know  not  how  anxious  I  am  to  hear  from  you  as  I  have  had 
that  pleasure  but  once  since  I  left  New- York.  Remember  me 

1  Sir  John  Johnson  was  at  this  time  by  Judge  Jones  in  Ms  history  of 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  New-York,  Vol.  I,  pp.  74-81;  and 
in  British  North  America.  Lady  further  details  are  given  in  Mr.  De 
Johnson  was  formerly  Mary  Watts,  Lancey's  notes.  When  released  she 
sister  to  John  Watts  of  New-York,  selected  Barclay's  house  at  the  Wai- 
Lady  Johnson's  arrest  and  detention  kill  as  her  residence.  See  Journals 
in  1776  by  the  American  authorities,  Prov.  Con.,  Vol.  I,  p.  761. 
as  a  hostage,  is  vigorously  related 

8A 


118       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

to  my  dear  Brothers  and  sisters,  with  my  aunts  Cox  and 
Watts,  and  all  other  friends,  with  Griser  and  other  servants, 
and  believe  me  my  dear  Mamma  yonr  very  sincere  and  affec 
tionate  son 

D.  BARCLAY. 

MY  DEAR  PAPA: 

Although  I  have  little  or  nothing  to  say  having  wrote  you 
not  long  since  I  should  feel  unpleasant  did  I  let  a  conveyance 
slip  without  a  line  to  my  dear  Father  I  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  obtain  a  french  master,  though  in  the  mean  time  I 
think  I  am  losin  nothin  while  I  am  making  myself  master 
of  the  Grammar,  and  writing  french,  and  frequently  having 
an  opportunity  of  speaking  it.  It  is  now  after  two  o'clock 
therefore  I  shall  bid  you  good  morning  and  retire  to  my  bed, 
as  I  rise  at  six.  I  shall  write  you  again  by  the  first  good  op 
portunity.  Believe  me  ever  vour  very  sincere  and  affectionate 
Son 

D.  BARCLAY. 

Should  the  gentleman  who  takes  charge  of  this  and  with 
whom  I  dined  a  few  days  since  whose  name  is  Mr.  Leith  come 
to  New  York  (of  which  he  is  not  certain)  and  call  on  you  I 
will  thank  you  to  pay  him  some  attention,  not  to  put  yourself 
out  of  the  way,  should  you  have  a  party  while  he  is  there  in 
vite  him  —  he  is  in  the  fir  trade. 


TO   LORD   GRENVILLE. 

New  York  12th  March  1801. 
MY  LORD: 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  your  Lordship  that  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Philadelphia  a  few 
Weeks  since,  wrote  an  official  letter  to  the  New  York  Cham 
ber  of  Commerce  wherein  after  remarking  the  immense  num 
ber  of  american  Ships  captured  by  His  Majestys  Ships  of 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  119 

\  ' 

War,  lie  acquainted  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  determination  of  the  Philadelphia  Merchants,  to  petition 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  grant  in  future  convoys 
under  certain  regulations  to  merchants  ships  that  their  pro 
perty  might  be  secured  against  British  depredations.1  The 
chamber  of  Commerce  of  this  place  have  not  co  operated  with 
the  Philadelphians  under  a  conviction  that  their  proceedings 
were  too  high  toned  and  that  it  was  probable  the  President  of 
the  United  States  might  remedy  the  evil  complained  of  by  a 
more  conciliatory  line  of  Conduct.  They  have  therefore  re 
ported  to  the  President  the  Captures  of  Ships  from  this  Port 
by  British  Ships,  and  subjoined  the  facts  respecting  each  in 
dividual  Ship  leaving  the  President  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
he  conceived  would  best  remedy  the  evil. —  Mr  Bond  His  Ma 
jesty  s  Consul  General  at  Philadelphia  will  probably  furnish 
your  Lordship  with  the  particulars  of  the  proceedings  at  Phil 
adelphia.  I  have  not  yet  learned  whether  any  thing  has  been 
done  to  the  Eastward :  but  consider  it  certain  that  application 
equally  violent  with  that  from  Pennsylvania  will  be  made  by 
the  Merchants  of  Baltimore,  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  I 
am  happy  to  inform  your  Lordship  that  the  respectable  part 
of  the  Mercantile  Interest  in  this  City  are  federal  and  warmly 
attached  to  G-  Britain;  and  that  altho'  few  of  these  Charac 
ters  ordinarily  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Chamber  of  Com 
merce;  I  had  influence  sufficient  to  procure  their  attendance 
on  this  occasion,  and  to  them  and  a  few  others,  the  lenient 
measures  adopted  are  to  be  attributed.  I  intreat  your  Lord 
ship  will  pardon  me  for  obtruding  this  unsolicited,  but  zeal 
for  His  Majesty  s  Service  compels  me  in  this  instance  to  break 
through  all  rule ;  under  an  impression  that  it  is  probable  your 
Lordship  may  be  ignorant  of  what  the  Americans,  with  I  fear 
some  justice,  complain  of. —  There  are  few  if  any  instances  of 
captures  in  Europe,  or  decrees  in  the  Courts  of  admiralty  in 
Great  Britain  that  are  considered  otherwise  than  equitable 

i  In  American  State  Papers,  For.  ber  of  Commerce,  to  the  Secretary 

Eel.,  Vol.  II,  p.  347,  will  be  found  a  of  the  Navy,  dated  Feb.  17,  1801, 

letter  from  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  which  is  evidently  the  " petition" 

Chairman  of  the  Philadelphia  Cham-  referred  to. 


120       COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

and  fair  by  the  Americans  ;  and  I  have  scarce  ever  heard  our 
Courts  in  England  spoken  of  by  them  except  in  terms  of  the 
highest  respect. —  But  the  cry  is  universal  from  one  end  of 
the  Continent  to  the  other  that  the  Cruizers  in  America  and 
the  "West  Indies  send  every  American  Vessel  they  meet,  into 
one  of  his  Majestys  Colonial  Ports  for  adjudication  and  that 
the  Judges  of  the  Provincial  Courts  of  Vice  Admiralty  too 
generally  condemn,  and  in  cases  where  an  acquital  would 
have  been  decreed  in  England.  To  appeal  they  remark  is  so 
nearly  allied  in  its  consequences  to  a  total  loss,  that  it  is  not 
worth  the  pursuit.  First  from  the  length  of  time  that  elapses 
before  a  decision  takes  place  —  and  secondly  the  immense  ex 
pense  attending  appeals. —  I  am  satisfied  my  Lord  that  not  a 
little  of  Enemies  property  is  covered  by  the  Americans  and 
that  articles  contraband  of  War  are  frequently  exported  from 
the  States :  but  I  am  equally  certain  that  bona  fide  American 
property  is  too  often  improperly  condemned  in  the  Provincial 
Courts  of  Admiralty.  From  hence  it  is  that  the  Americans 
feel  injured,  and  unless  a  remedy  is  applied,  I  fear  we  shall 
not  long  continue  on  a  friendly  footing  with  them. —  The 
Eastern  States  are  at  the  present  moment  more  firmly  at 
tached  to  G  Britain  than  at  any  period  since  the  year  1783, 
and  would  be  perfectly  satisfied  if  the  least  alteration  was 
made  by  Government  for  the  protection  of  lawful  American 
Property  from  capture  and  condemnation. —  What  I  have 
stated  to  your  Lordship  is  in  perfect  confidence  and  I  hope 
will  not  be  considered  by  your  Lordship  out  of  place.  Permit 
me  to  intreat  that  my  name  may  not  be  made  known  as  the 
author  of  this  communication.1 

1  The  subject  treated  of  in  this  let-  other  British  Colonies.     The  irregu- 

ter  had  already  engaged  the  atten-  larities  which  had  prevailed  in  these 

tion  of  the  Ministry.     By  a  letter  Courts  had  long  given  occasion  for 

from  Lord  Grenville,  dated  January  complaint;     and    the    Government 

22,  1801,  the  King  directed  the  Lords  "  thought  proper,  by  lessening  their 

Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  to  number,  by  extending  their  jurisdic- 

revoke  all  the  prize    commissions  tion,  and  by  increasing  the  salaries 

which  had  theretofore  been  granted  of  the  judges,  to  give  them  greater 

to    the    numerous  Vice  Admiralty  consequence  and  dignity,  and  to  in- 

Courts  in  the  West  Indies  and  in  duce  gentlemen  acquainted  with  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  121 

TO   MRS.  MAKGARET   DE   LANCEY. 

New  York  3d  May  1801. 
MY  DEAR  MADAM  — 

Your  favor  of  the  15th  of  Decr  and  26th  of  January  I  have 
had  the  satisfaction  to  receive ;  and  had  flattered  myself  that 
it  would  before  this  have  been  in  my  power  to  have  given  you 
the  pleasing  information  of  the  settlement  of  your  dower  with 
the  State  of  New  York.  For  which  purpose,  as  I  informed 
you  last  Autumn,  it  was  necessary  to  have  an  accurate  list 
and  valuation  of  each  lot,  by  appraisers,  appointed  by  the 
Commissioners  of  this  State  —  Through  Mr  Cadwallader  Col- 
den  your  Attorney  for  this  purpose,  I  therefore  presented  the 
Commissioners  with  twelve  respectable  names  and  desired  to 
nominate  three  out  of  that  number  —  They  directed  the  first 
three  to  be  taken;  who  with  great  attention  and  industry, 
aided  by  Stanton  &  a  Surveyor,  completed  the  return  in  Feb 
ruary  last ;  the  total  value  of  the  Estate,  computed  at  604,707 
dollars  &  the  annual  value  thereof  at  30,831. —  With  these 
documents  and  a  petition  drawn  up  by  me  in  your  name  Mr 
Golden  proceeded  immediately  to  Albany,  and  laid  them  be 
fore  the  Commissioners  —  The  Legislature  of  the  State  was 
then  sitting  in  that  City.  The  Commissioners  having  ex 
amined  the  valuation,  made  by  Gorman,  Russel  &  Carmer  the 
appraisers,  were  of  opinion,  that  it  was  an  equitable  appraise 
ment  ;  but  as  your  demand  amounted  to  a  Sum  infinitely  be 
yond  what  had  ever  come  before  them,  they  considered  it  their 
duty,  altho  vested  with  full  powers  to  purchase  your  release 
of  dower,  to  report  the  facts  to  the  Legislature,  and  to  pray 

law,  and  the  practice  of  the  Courts  another  £2000  a  year.      Martinique 

in  England,  and  particularly  some  ,  having  been  given  up  by  the  Treaty 

of  the  advocates  of  the  civil  law,  to  of  Amiens,  a  Vice-Admiralty  Court 

accept  of  these  judicial  offices."  Ac-  was  established  at  Barbadoes.     See 

cordingly  by  an  act  of  Parliament  Introduction  to  Stewart's  Adm.  Be- 

(41  Geo.  Ill,  Chap.  96)  courts  were  ports.  American  public  opinion  was 

established  at  Halifax,  Jamaica  and  no  better  satisfied  with  the  decisions 

Martinique  only,  and  salaries  were  of  the  new  courts  than  with  those  of 

authorized    to   be   paid  of    £2000,  their  predecessors, 
besides  perquisites  not  to   exceed 


122       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

their  orders  thereon — A  committee  was  appointed  to  take  the 
same  into  consideration  and  report.  Mr  Golden  attended  them 
and  they  some  days  after  made  a  private  report,  which  I  un 
derstand  from  good  Authority  amounted  to  this  —  That  the 
appraisement  was  consistent  and  rather  under  than  above  the 
value  of  the  Estate  —  Yet  that  it  would  be  improper  for 
the  House  of  Assembly  to  sanction  the  Commissioners  in  pay 
ing  so  large  an  amount  as  you  would  be  entitled  to,  on  the 
Scale  used  on  former  occasions  by  the  Commissioners ;  for  if 
they  allowed  you  an  annuity  during  your  life,  it  could  not  be 
less  than  8000  dollars  per  Annum  and  if  a  sum  in  gross  it 
would  amount  to  near  80,000  dollars. —  Such  compensations  to 
Widows  of  Loyalists,  they  imagined  would  make  no  little  noise 
in  the  State  and  prove  injurious  to  their  political  Interest  — 
They  therefore  recommended  that  the  Commissioners  should 
not  for  the  present  offer  you  any  compensation  but  that  Mr 
Hoffman  the  Attorney  General,  be  directed  to  defend  every 
suit  commenced  for  the  recovery  of  your  dower,  create  every 
possible  delay,  and  endeavour  so  to  perplex  and  exhaust  your 
patience,  as  to  induce  you  to  a  second  application,  and  then 
that  the  Commissioners  might  pay  you  30,000  dollars  for  your 
release  in  full  —  I  relate  the  above  in  confidence  and  intreat 
you  will  not  let  it  be  known,  as  it  might  injure  me  — 

Under  these  circumstances  we  have  now  no  alternative  but 
to  commence  Suits  —  In  this,  I  shall  use  every  possible  discre 
tion  ;  for  if  the  Court  should  determine,  that  you  are  to  pay 
your  own  Costs,  which  I  fear  will  be  the  Case,  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  property  will  not  be  worth  suing  for  —  I  mean 
vacant  lots,  and  those  whereon  small  tenements  are  erected. — 
At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  necessary  to  sue  all  the  Tenants 
of  the  Freehold,  who  possess  property  to  any  amount,  and  to 
hurry  on  these  suits,  in  order  to  render  them  anxious  on  their 
own  account,  and  compel  them  in  turn  to  become  Petitioners 
to  the  Legislature  during  their  Session  in  February  next  —  If 
we  can  effect  this  we  shall  turn  the  tables  on  them  and  obtain 
a  better  compensation. —  Of  this  rest  assured  that  I  shall  act 
for  you  as  if  the  stake  was  my  own,  and  that  neither  at 
tention  or  industry  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  —  By  the  ad- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  123 

vice  of  Mr  Harison  I  have  retained  General  Hamilton  the 
ablest  Council  in  this  place  to  assist  him  and  in  July  next,  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  your  claim  to  the  property  in 
Broadway  will  be  brought  to  a  decision. 

In  the  mean  time  I  intreat  that  by  the  earliest  good  Ameri 
can  conveyance  you  forward  me,  every  paper  relative  to  the 
Estate  of  your  deceased  husband,  for  property  in  the  city,  or 
elsewhere  —  The  wild  lands  you  mention,  have  probably  been 
sold  by  the  State,  are  now  under  cultivation  and  worthy  your 
attention  —  Send  me  also  the  affidavits  requested  by  Mr 
Golden  — 

It  was  stated  in  the  house  of  Assembly  that  Mr  De  Lancey 
had  given  long  leases  for  a  part  of  this  Estate,  and  that  you 
had  joined  in  these  Leases  —  Also  that  he  and  you  had  con 
veyed  Mount  Pit  to  Judge  Jones 1  —  Pray  answer  me  particu 
larly  as  to  these  suggestions  —  Stanton  tells  me  Mr  De  Lancey 
had  repeatedly  said  to  him,  that  as  Mr  Jones  had  not  any  Chil 
dren,  he  did  not  intend  to  give  him  a  deed  for  the  property  — 


TO   LORD    HAWKESBURY.2 

New  York  12  May  1801. 

(Private.) 
MY  LORD 

I  consider  it  my  duty  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  that  it  is 
generally  reported  in  these  States,  and  I  suspect  not  without 
truth,  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  are  resolved 
to  refuse  complying  with  the  increased  demands  of  the  Dey  of 
Tripoli ;  in  consequence  of  which  it  is  supposed  the  Tripolitan 
Ships  will  have  orders  to  capture  all  American  Vessels. —  To 
protect  the  American  Commerce  in  the  Mediterranean  it  is 

1  "  Mount  Pitt"  was    the    town  2  Lord  Hawkesbury  had  been  ap- 

kouse  of  Judge  Thomas  Jones,  the  pointed  to  the  Foreign  Office  Feb- 

Tory  historian  of  New- York.    It  lay  ruary  20,  1801,  on  the  formation  of 

not  far  from  Corlear's  Hook  on  the  Mr.  Addington's  Ministry.     He  is 

East  Eiver.      Mrs.  Jones  was  Anne  "better  known  by  his  later  title  of 

De  Lancey,  a  sister  of  James.  Lord  Liverpool. 


124  COREESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS   BARCLAY 

said  that  a  Squadron  of  five  Frigates  and  two  Cutters  are  to 
be  sent  to  cruise  in  those  seas,  with  orders  to  act  defensively 
only  for  the  present. —  The  Ships  are  to  rendezvous  in  the 
Chesapeak  without  loss  of  time,  and  will  probably  sail  in  a 
month  from  this. 

I  subjoin  the  names  and  force  of  the  Ships  to  be  employed 
on  this  Service 

Guns 

United  States 44 

Constitution 44 

President 44 

Congress 36 

Essex  .  .  .32 


TO   LOED   HAWKESBUEY. 

New  York  5th  June  1801. 
MY  LORD  — 

Complaint  has  been  made  to  me  that  two  officers  who  served 
in  the  Provincial  Corps  during  the  Amn  War  and  who  are  now 
in  the  receipt  of  half  pay,  have  taken  the  oaths  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  and  in  that  oath  in  positive 
terms  and  by  name,  abjured  our  most  gracious  Sovereign. — 
Gabriel  V  Ludlow  Ensine  in  Brigr  General  De  Lanceys  Bri 
gade  —  and  a  Mr  Thomas  Carpenter,  at  present  of  Saratoga  in 
this  State,  but  to  what  Provincial  Corps  he  belonged  I  cannot 
learu  ;  are  the  persons  who  have  taken  these  oaths. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  make  any  remark  on  the  Conduct  of 
these  persons,  or  to  observe  that  prudence  dictates  that  the 
allowance  of  half  pay,  should  be  with  held  from  Characters  of 
the  above  description ;  but  it  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  there 
are  at  this  moment  a  great  number  of  half  pay  officers,  who 
have  become  subjects  of  the  United  States;  and  many  of  them 
violent  in  their  principals  and  Conduct  in  opposition  to  His 
majesty  and  the  interest  of  the  united  Kingdom  — 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  125 

TO    VICE-ADMIKAL    PARKER. 

New  York  8th  June  1801. 
SIR: 

The  inclosed  letter  will  give  you  in  substance  the  latest  ac 
counts  that  I  have  received  from  Virginia  respecting  His  Ma 
jesty's  ship  the  Boston  and  the  french  Frigate  the  Semillante. 
By  a  schooner  that  left  Hampton  roads  on  Tuesday  last,  I  am 
informed  that  the  American  Squadron  and  the  Semillante  lay 
there  apparently  ready  for  Sea.  Should  the  Semillante  wait 
the  sailing  of  the  American  ships,  it  is  probable  she  will  not 
be  out  in  some  days.  Captain  Douglas  has  almost  a  daily 
communication  with  Col.  Hamilton  the  Consul  at  Norfolk. 

Monsieur  Pichon  charge  des  affaires  from  the  french  repub 
lic  to  these  States  called  on  me  a  few  days  since  on  the  subject 
of  a  flag  of  truce,  which  he  wished  and  I  had  declined.  In 
that  conversation  I  drew  from  him  that  he  had  sent  sixty  peo 
ple  of  colour  who  had  been  prisoners  to  the  Americans  to  Bos 
ton  to  assist  in  manning  the  Berceau.  These  men  have  gone 
most  reluctantly  and  although  exchanged  were  kept  in  Gaol 
until  embarked  for  Boston.  I  suspect  the  Berceau  has  sailed 
by  this  —  her  destination  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.1 
The  news  from  Egypt  is  the  more  pleasing,  as  it  contradicts 
the  french  reports.2 

TO   VICE-ADMIRAL  PARKER. 

New  York  24  June,  1801. 
SIR 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  early  this  morning  the 
French  armed  Brig  the  Mutine  of  16  Guns,  with  an  armed 

1  The  Berceau  was  a  French  cor-  vessel  was  built  at  Boston  in  1799, 
vette  captured  in  November,  1800,  and  came  to  an  ignominious  end  in 
by  the  U.  S.  Ship  Boston.     She  was  1814,  being  burned  at  the  Washing- 
restored  to  the  French  Government  ton  Navy  Yard  to  avoid  falling  into 
in  accordance  with  the  third  article  English  hands, 
of  the  Convention  of  September  30,  2  The  "news  from  Egypt"  was 
1800.    The  U.  S.  S.  Boston  is  not  to  be  Abercromby's    victory    at    Alexan- 
confounded  with  the  British  frigate  dria,  March  21,  1801. 
of  the  same  name.     The  American 


12G  CORRESPONDENCE  OF   THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Merchant  Ship  of  ten  Guns  from  Cayenne  came  to  an  anchor 
about  four  miles  below  this  City.  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
learn  precisely  their  object  or  destination,  a  confidential  per 
son  was  on  board  both  of  them  last  Evng  on  entering  the 
Hook,  but  as  he  did  not  speak  french,  and  found  only  one  man 
on  board  the  Brig  who  could  speak  English,  he  obtained  but 
little  information.  It  appears  that  the  Ship  has  a  number  of 
exiles  from  France  on  board  who  had  permission  to  leave  Cay 
enne,  but  I  have  not  yet  ascertained  whether  they  are  to  go  to 
Trance  or  settle  in  America.  On  Board  the  Mutine  the  men 
and  officers  were  very  inquisitive  to  learn  whether  there  were 
many  British  Ships  in  Port,  how  many  had  lately  sailed,  and 
if  there  were  any  nearly  ready  for  Sea  — 

I  have  sent  back  the  person  above  mentioned,  with  another 
equally  trust  worthy  who  speaks  french ;  but  as  it  is  uncertain 
whether  they  will  return  in  time  for  the  New  Brunswick  Ves 
sel,  which  leaves  this  in  an  hour  or  two,  I  have  determined  to 
forward  this  imperfect  Statement.  About  two  hours  after  the 
above  vessels  came  to  an  anchor,  His  Majestys  armed  Brig  the 
Serpent  commanded  by  L*  Dwire  came  up  to  Town.  He  in 
forms  me  that  he  was  ordered  on  a  Cruize  by  Admiral  Duck 
worth  with  orders  to  proceed  as  far  as  35  North  Latitude  and 
if  possible  speak  one  of  the  Ships  belonging  to  your  Squadron, 
to  inform  you  that  on  the  23  of  May  two  french  Frigates  of  48 
&  44  Guns  had  got  in  to  Guadeloupe  from  France.  Near  that 
Island  they  were  met  with  by  His  Majestys  Ship  the  Anclrom- 
acke  who  exchanged  a  few  broadsides  with  both  of  them, 
but  the  french  frigates  avoided  the  action  and  got  into  Point 
Petre. —  That  the  Admiral  was  suspicious  they  would  en 
deavour  to  get  out,  and  probably  come  on  this  coast.  L*  Dwire 
adds  that  there  is  a  chain  of  Privateers  from  Guadeloupe  ex 
tending  from  Longitude  60  to  Newfoundland —  That  one  of 
these  had  captured  the  Duke  of  Kent  Merchant  Man  ladened 
with  fish,  which  he  recaptured  in  sight  of  Guadeloupe  —  Lf 
Dwire  put  in  to  this  place  in  distress,  having  sprung  a  leak 
and  making  so  much  water  as  not  to  be  able  to  keep  his  ship 
free  with  one  pump  —  The  Carpenters  go  on  board  the  Ser 
pent  early  in  the  morning  and  I  hope  in  two  or  three  days  she 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  127 

will  be  ready  for  sea. —  I  am  very  apprehensive  L*  Dwire  will 
lose  many  of  his  men  —  He  however  thinks  otherwise,  as  they 
have  been  some  time  on  board  the  Brig,  and  have  upwards  of 
£80  per  man  due  them  for  prize  money. —  In  case  the  Mutine 
attempts  to  put  to  Sea  while  the  Serpent  remains  here,  I  will 
procure  him  as  many  volunteers  as  he  needs  to  pursue  her  — 
The  Serpent  he  assures  me  sails  remarkably  well,  and  he  as 
sures  me  he  is  equal  to  both  these  ships  —  He  passed  in  com 
ing  up  within  half  a  cables  length  of  both  of  them,  and  tells 
me  the  Mutine  has  very  long  six  pounders,  so  that  they  must 
be  loaded  out  side  —  On  Saturday  the  Berceau  was  still  at 
Boston  ready  for  sea.  She  has  shipped  50  American  Seamen, 
discharged  from  the  Am11  Frigate  the  Constitution,  at  200  dol 
lars  per  man  for  the  run  to  France  —  This  is  correct,  should 
she  therefore  fall  into  our  possession  you  will  of  course  take 
care  of  these  men  amongst  whom  it  is  to  be  feared  you  will 
find  British  Seamen  —  Accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  polite 
and  friendly  answer  respecting  my  Son  on  board  the  Boston,  and 
for  your  assent  that  Mr  Izard  my  nephew  may  join  the  Boston 
until  you  have  a  proper  ship  whereon  to  hoist  your  flag.1 

I  intreat  you  to  pardon  this  hasty  letter,  written  under 
great  distress  of  mind,  my  dear  little  infant  being  dangerously 
ill  — 


TO   ME.  THORNTON/ 

New  York  30th  June  1801. 
SIR  — 

I  am  this  moment  honored  with  your  letters  of  the  27  &  28 
Current,  the  former  accompanied  with  copies  of  regulations  es- 

1  "  My  son  "  was  Thomas  Barclay  in  the  British  service.  Perhaps  this 
the  younger,  then  a  midshipman  is  Ralph  Izard,  Jr.,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy, 
aboard  H.  M.  S.  Boston.  "Mr.  Izard  who  distinguished  himself  three  or 
my  nephew  "  was  a  son  of  Ralph  four  years  later  at  Tripoli. 
Izard  of  South  Carolina,  whose  wife  2  Thornton  was  at  this  time  in 
was  Alice  De  Lancey,  a  sister  of  charge  of  the  British  Legation  in 
Mrs.  Barclay's.  Young  Izard  must  Washington,  Mr.  Liston  having  re- 
have  "been  a  guest  of  the  Admiral's,  turned  to  England  about  a  year 
for  none  of  Ralph  Izard's  sons  were  before. 


128        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

tablislied  by  the  American  Government  in  1794  &  1795,  to 
which  particular  attention  shall  be  paid  —  I  received  abont  a 
fortnight  since  from  Mr  Maston  of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  who 
arrived  at  Boston  from  Halifax  Nova  Scotia  information  that 
the  British  Vessel  he  was  in,  had  been  chased  and  fired  npon 
near  Cape  Cod,  by  a  small  f rench  privateer  Schooner  —  on  his 
arrival  at  Boston  and  making  mention  of  the  Circumstance,  it 
was  generally  supposed  she  was  the  Borguine,  Dallas  Master, 
who  had  entered  and  cleared  as  a  Merchant  Vessel  and  after 
leaving  Boston,  mounted  Guns,  concealed  in  her  hold  —  I 
learn  from  a  Captain  Stewart,  a  few  days  since  from  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  that  close  in  with  Marthas  Vineyard,  he  was  hailed  and 
spoken  to  by  a  stout  armed  f  rench  Brig ;  and  which  from  dates 
could  not  be  the  Mutine  now  in  this  Port  —  of  all  these  cir 
cumstances,  I  have  informed  Admiral  Parker,  by  two  Convey 
ances  the  last  of  which  sailed  on  Sunday  —  I  have  likewise 
made  him  acquainted  with  the  french  armed  Vessels  being  in 
this  Port,  and  what  Admiral  Duckworth,  directed  Lieut  Dwyer 
to  communicate  to  the  Commanders  of  any  of  the  Ships  ap 
pertaining  to  the  Halifax  Station  — 

I  have  not  seen  Lfc  Dwyer,  since  the  day  of  his  arrival  owing 
to  the  distressed  situation  of  my  dear  infant,  who  lay  in  Con 
vulsions  from  Thursday  until  Sunday,  when  it  expired 1  —  I 
however  not  only  urged  him  to  hasten  her  being  ready  for  Sea, 
but  desired  Mr  Shanyon,  who  superintends  the  repairs  to  fur 
nish  as  many  Carpenters,  as  could  work  to  advantage. —  I  shall 
see  him  in  a  day  or  two,  and  if  necessary  press  his  stay,  if 
consistent  with  his  instructions  — 


TO  LOBD   HAWKESBUEY. 

New  York,  8  July  1801. 
MY  LORD, 

A  number  of  national  french  armed  vessels  and  some  priva 
teers  have  within  the  last  six  weeks  made  their  appearance  on 
the  American  coasts  and  I  am  very  apprehensive  will  injure 

1  Cornelia,  born  May  23,  died  June  28,  1801. 


1799-1802  129 

the  British,  trade,  not  only  to  these  States,  but  His  Majesty's 
colonies  on  the  Continent.  The  Halifax  Squadron  under  Vice 
Adm!  Sir  W™  Parker  is  very  weak,  consisting  at  present  of 
only  three  frigates  and  two  sloops.  Of  these  the  Cleopatra  is 
detached  to  Jamaica  for  Specie  for  the  pay  office  at  Halifax. 
The  Boston  is  and  has  been  since  the  26  of  April  at  the  Capes 
of  Virginia  blockading  the  Semillante  a  french  frigate  laying 
in  Hampton  Roads,  and  the  Andromache  sailed  about  a  fort 
night  since  for  Virginia  to  relieve  the  Boston,  who  wants  re 
pairs  not  having  been  in  port  since  last  Autumn.  The  Pheas 
ant  sloop  is  off  Boston  waiting  the  Berceau,  a  stout  french 
corvette,  captured  some  time  since  by  the  Americans,  and 
lately  restored  to  the  french.  The  Lilly  is  either  at  Halifax  or 
cruising  —  Your  Lordship  will  perceive  that  the  Lilly,  a  mis 
erable  sloop,  is  the  only  ship,  that  can  at  present  be  detached 
to  protect  the  trade  from  Cape  Breton  to  West  Florida —  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  the  numbers  of  french  ships  of  war 
and  armed  vessels  will  increase  in  proportion,  as  it  is  discov 
ered,  that  these  shores  are  unprotected  — 


TO   LOED   HAWKESBUEY. 

New  York  3  August  1801. 
MY  LORD. 

Your  Lordship  is  undoubtedly  fully  informed  of  the  im 
mense  emigrations  that  have  taken  place  during  the  present 
season  from  G  Britain  and  Ireland  to  these  States.  Of  the 
cause  however  I  suspect  His  Majestys  Ministers  are  ignorant, 
under  this  impression  I  take  the  Liberty  to  state,  that  there 
are  several  Societies  formed  within  the  United  States  consist 
ing  principally  of  persons  who  have  either  from  political  or 
religious  principles  left  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  who  keep 
up  a  constant  correspondence  with  his  Majestys  Subjects,  and 
by  every  conveyance  send  over  to  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire 
land,  seditious  inflamatory  publications  for  the  express  pur 
pose  of  rendering  His  Majestys  Subjects  dissatisfied  with  their 
present  situation  and  the  measures  of  Government  —  Describ- 


130        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ing  their  own  envied  situation  in  America  in  the  enjoyment  of 
Liberty  and  equality,  free  from  taxation  ;  and  painting  these 
States  as  a  field  where  wealth  is  reaped  with  care  and  moder 
ate  industry. —  Of  these  mischievous  societies  some  are  headed 
by  dissenting  Clergymen,  who  were  obliged  to  leave  G  Britain 
on  account  of  political  violence,  these  men  in  addition  to  the 
above  mentioned  arguments,urge  fanatical  persuasions  and  have 
deluded  most  of  the  Welsh  that  have  emigrated  this  year. — 

Part  of  my  information  I  have  from  the  unfortunate 
Wretches  who  have  come  over,  and  from  finding  themselves 
deceived,  are  more  anxious  to  return,  than  they  originally 
were  to  come  out. —  Near  one  hundred  have  at  different 
periods  made  application  to  me  for  passages  home,  which  was 
not  in  my  power  to  grant ;  I  have  however  given  three  Welsh 
men  passages  in  the  Prince  Earnest  Pacquet,  in  the  hope,  that 
on  their  return  they  will  by  their  representations  effectually 
prevent  any  more  of  their  Countrymen  from  giving  faith  to 
these  wicked  representations. 

About  two  months  since  I  received  correct  information  that 
a  society  was  established  in  this  City  for  the  purpose  of  com 
municating  with  His  Majestys  Subjects  in  Great  Britain  & 
Ireland,  in  order  to  render  them  dissatisfied  with  their  situa 
tion,  to  encourage  them  to  attempt  a  revolution  and  in  the 
event  of  that  not  succeeding  to  draw  these  over  to  this  Coun 
try.  Cheetham  1  an  Englishman,  the  Editor  of  a  newspaper, 
John  Woods,2  who  had  taught  drawing  in  the  University  at 
Edinburgh,  and  a  John  Thomson,  Scotchman  were  at  the 
head  of  this  junto. —  About  this  period  I  received  a  note  from 
a  person  who  signed  himself  "  an  Englishman  " ;  and  wishing 
to  give  the  person  the  information  he  desired,  I  advertised  re 
questing  him  to  call  on  me. — Woods  instantly  took  the  alarm, 
and  suspecting  that  I  had  discovered  the  designs  of  his  So 
ciety  j  got  himself  introduced  to  me,  by  a  person  who  taught 

1  James  Cheetham,   at  this  time  died  in  1822.     He  is  best  known  as 
editor  of  the  American  Citizen  and  the  author  of  the   scurrilous  His- 
Watchtower.  tory  of  the  Administration  of  John 

2  John  Wood  was  born  about  1755 ;  Adams, 
emigrated  to  America  in  1800,  and 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  131 

my  children.  His  confession  was  full  as  to  the  original  design 
of  the  institution,  but  he  assured  me,  it  was  discontinued  — 
For  the  moment  I  suppose  it  was,  but  I  have  no  doubt  it 
is  again  in  operation  and  with  increased  violence  and  malig 
nity  against  His  Majesty  and  the  Government.  I  take  the  lib 
erty  to  inclose  your  Lordship  two  news  papers,  the  conse 
quences  of  Woods  calling  on  me.  The  representations 
contained  in  the  first  with  respect  to  myself  are  generally 
devoid  of  truth.  Your  Lordship  will  observe  that  Cheetham 
altho'  he  denies  the  Society  having  ever  commenced  their 
operations,  fully  avows  what  was  intended. —  These  publica 
tions  as  well  as  private  letters  on  political  Subjects  are  for 
warded  in  Ships  bound  to  different  Ports  in  Scotland.  And  I 
should  suppose  that  a  mode  might  be  adopted  by  Government 
to  possess  themselves  of  some  of  them. — 


TO   BRIGADIER-GENERAL   FULLER,  GOVERNOR   OF    THE 
ISLAND    OF    ST.    CROIX. 

Consul  Generals  Office  17  Septr  1801. 
SIR. 

In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  16th  of  August  delivered  to  me 
by  Mr  Farrell,  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  I  have  not  been 
able  to  discover  the  Person  who  carried  to  the  Printers  the 
Extract  of  the  Letter  from  S*  Croix  and  which  was  published 
in  the  New  York  Gazette  of  the  first  of  July.1 

1  The  publication  referred  to  is  a  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.     The 

Letter  to  a  New  York  Gentleman  General  has  been  committing  one 

from  a  Friend  in  St.  Croix.    "  Since  act  of  violence  after  another  for  sev- 

I  left  you  at  New  York,"  says  the  eral  weeks/'  etc. 

friend,  "  we  have  had  a  great  change  St.  Croix  was  taken  by  a  British 

in  our  Government.     On  the  Brit-  fleet    under   command   of  Admiral 

ish  fleet  taking  possession,  I  was  in  Duckworth  on  March  5,  1801.     Be- 

hopes  that  they  intended  to  act  with  ing  very  ill  prepared  for  resistance, 

moderation ;  but  (it  seems)  it  was  the  island  was  surrendered  without 

only  to  find  out  the  real  state   of  opposition.    It  was  restored  to  the 

people's  property,  so  that  they  might  Danish  Government  under  the  Treaty 

the  more  promptly  fall  on  a  plan  to  of  Amiens  in  1802. 
deprive  every  person  of  as  much  as 


132        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Upon  interrogating  Mr  Lang  the  Editor  he  told  me  that  the 
Gentleman  who  gave  him  the  extract  was  a  Stranger  and  sup 
posing  it  contained  nothing  peculiarly  offensive,  but  rather 
matters  of  dispute  under  the  treaty,  he  had  published  it.  Mr 
Lang  added  that  the  person  who  brought  the  extract  was  at 
tended  by  a  lame  Gentleman  as  I  take  it  for  granted  this  must 
have  been  Counsellor  Benson,  or  Nelson,  I  never  could  distin 
guish  the  names  between  him  and  the  Judge  who  both  came 
from  S*  Croix  to  this  place  — 

I  have  spoken  very  severely  to  the  Printer,  and  assured  him 
it  was  more  than  probable  he  would  be  prosecuted  as  he  either 
would  or  could  not  ascertain  the  Author.  He  is  not  a  little 
alarmed,  and  has  promised  me  to  be  more  guarded  in  future. — 
I  do  not  however  think  either  a  private  action  or  an  indictment 
against  Lang  would  be  attended  with  damages  which  would 
afford  any  satisfactory  pecuniary  punishment. — 

The  American  presses  are  licentious  in  the  extreme  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  tends  the  reverse  of  a  check  on 
them. 


TO  VICE-ADMIBAL    LOKD    HUGH    SEYMOUK,   JAMAICA. 

Consul  General's  Office  for  the 
Eastern  States  of  America  23  Septr  1801. 
MY  LORD  — 

It  is  always  with  extreme  reluctance  that  I  make  application 
to  any  of  His  Majesty s  officers  of  the  Navy  for  the  discharge 
of  American  Seamen  impressed  through  mistake  into  service, 
from  a  conviction  that  where  we  have  one  American  in  our 
Service  there  are  fifty  British  Seamen  serving  in  American 
Ships — 

Instances  however  occur  where  humanity  pleads  so  strongly 
in  favor  of  persons  impressed,  that  it  would  be  doing  violence 
to  my  feelings  not  to  state  their  case,  and  intercede  in  their 
Behalf — The  favor  I  am  now  to  ask  of  your  Lordship  is  of 
that  description. 

Jonas  Hamilton  a  native  and  Citizen  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  a  ship  carpenter  by  trade  and  a  resident  in  this 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  133 

City,  was  advised  for  the  recovery  of  his  health  to  take  a 
voyage,  and  being  a  poor  man  shipped  as  a  Sailor  on  board 
the  Ship  Hercules,  William  Sutherland  Master  then  bound 
for  Curacao  —  On  the  second  August  Hamilton  was  taken 
from  on  board  the  Hercules  at  Curasao  by  a  party  from  His 
Majesty s  ship  the  Quebec,  carried  on  board  her  and  detained 
as  a  Seaman  when  Cap*  Sutherland  came  away  —  Hamilton 
has  an  aged  Mother  a  Wife  and  two  infant  Children,  dependent 
on  his  labor  —  he  is  29  years  of  age,  about  five  feet  ten  or 
eleven  Inches  in  height  and  has  a  small  Wen  on  one  Ear  and 
of  a  fair  Complexion  —  Was  born  at  Brain  tree,  in  the  State  of 
Massachusetts. 

Permit  me  my  Lord  to  intreat  in  behalf  of  the  mother  Wife 
and  Children  that  you  will  have  the  Goodness  to  order  that  he 
may  be  discharged  His  Majestys  Service,  and  that  should  he 
have  been  transferred  to  any  other  ship  under  your  command, 
you  will  have  the  Goodness  to  direct  the  order  to  the  officer 
Commanding  for  his  release.1 


TO   H.  K.  H.  THE   DUKE   OF   KENT. 

New  York,  10th  Octr  1801. 
SIR, 

I  intreat  your  Royal  Highness  will  be  pleased  to  accept  my 
grateful  acknowledgements  for  your  most  gracious  and 
friendly  letters  of  the  13th  and  18th  of  July  received  a  few  days 
since  by  the  Lady  Hobart  packet.  Permit  me  at  the  same 
time  to  assure  your  Royal  Highness  that  I  am  duly  sensible  of 
the  interest  you  take  in  my  son's  promotion,  and  of  your  co 
operation  with  Lord  Hawkesbury  in  effecting  His  Majesty's 
permission  for  my  coming  to  England  and  leaving  my  eldest 
son  to  transact  the  Business  of  my  office. —  I  have  for  many 

1  A  very  large  part  of  Barclay's  lawfully  seized  are  here  printed,  for 

correspondence  was  taken  up  by  the  he   was  always  ready  to  urge  the 

ever-troublesome    question    of    im-  release  of  any  man  who  could  pro- 

pressment.    Only  a  few  of  his  many  duce  evidence  of  being  a  native-born 

appeals  on  behalf  of  Americans  un-  American  citizen. 


134       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

reasons  resolved  not  to  avail  myself  of  His  Majesty s  leave  of 
absence  until  the  Month  of  March,  when  I  shall  embark  for 
England.  The  possibility  of  a  peace  before  that  period  is  one 
of  my  reasons  for  not  coming  more  early.1 

I  sincerely  congratulate  your  Royal  Highness  on  the  recov 
ery  of  His  Majesty  and  am  happy  to  hear  from  your  pen  that 
his  health  is  better  than  it  has  been  for  some  years  past. — 
May  God  long  preserve  him  a  comfort  to  his  family  and  a 
blessing  to  his  Subjects. 

The  Vice  Courts  of  Admiralty  beyond  all  doubt  required  a 
great  reform  and  under  this  impression  I  took  the  Liberty  to 
communicate  my  opinion  last  Winter  to  Lord  Grenville  on  the 
Subject  of  the  captures  and  condemnations  of  American  Ves 
sels. —  It  is  true  the  American  merchants  by  contraband  trade, 
and  conveying  Enemy's  property,  have  given  just  cause  to 
suspect  that  every  one  of  their  Ships  were  laden  in  part  or  the 
whole  contrary  to  the  Law  of  Nations  and  the  existing  treaty ; 
still  suspicion  alone  was  not  a  sufficient  cause  for  capture  and 
detention,  much  less  of  eventual  condemnation.  By  the  pres 
ent  act  of  Parliament 2  these  courts  are  now  placed  on  so  re 
spectable  a  footing  that  while  His  Majesty's  rights  and  those 
of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Navy  are  amply  secured ;  the 
property  of  foreigners  will  be  preserved  sacred  so  long  as  they 
continue  to  remove  it  conformably  to  law. —  Dr.  Cook3  whom 
your  Royal  Highness  names  as  the  Gentleman  appointed  for 
Halifax,  I  take  for  granted  is  an  able  civilian  and  one  who  will 
give  universal  satisfaction. 

I  sincerely  lament  that  my  amiable  and  worthy  friend  Sir 
John  Wentworth  is  to  be  removed  from  his  Government.  The 
measure  I  fear  will  break  that  good  man's  heart. —  A  more 
zealous  faithful  Subject  never  existed ;  but  I  fear  he  may  have 
been  as  inattentive  to  the  expenditure  of  public  money  as  of 

1  The  preliminaries  of  peace  were  great  ability  and  force  of  character, 
signed  in  October,  1801,  the  Treaty  and  exercised  his  powers  with  un- 
of  Amiens,  March  25,  1802.  sparing    severity    in     condemning 

2  41  Geo.  Ill,  Chap.  96.  American   vessels    brought    before 

3  Alexander  Croke,  LL.  D.,  is  the  him  as  prizes.     His   decisions   are 
person  intended.    He  was  a  man  of  collected  in  Stewart's  Reports. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  135 

his  own. —  His  natural  Benevolence  has  ever  rendered  him  a 
dupe  to  designing  men  ;  and  I  have  more  than  once  intreated 
him  to  give  an  absolute  negative  in  the  first  instance  to 
improper  applications. — His  interference  with  the  Maroons  I 
protested  against  in  the  warmest  terms,  and  if  Sir  John  will 
revert  to  my  letters  when  the  maroons  arrived  in  Nova  Scotia 
he  will  find  that  what  I  then  predicted  has  actually  come  to 
pass. —  Still  I  believe  his  hands  are  clean,  however  negligent 
he  may  have  been  as  to  expenditures ;  and  although  I  condemn 
the  measure  of  his  ever  having  had  anything  to  do  with  them  ;  I 
am  satisfied,  the  location  was  judicious  for  their  establishment.1 

I  took  the  Liberty  to  forward  to  your  Royal  Highness  by 
the  last  Packet,  a  political  Pamphlet,  which  I  considered  well 
written.  I  have  now  the  Honor  to  inclose  you  the  answer  to 

it  under  the  signature  of  Leonidas You  will  scarce  have 

patience  to  run  over  this  miserable  performance.  It  is  sup 
posed  to  be  the  production  of  a  Scotchman  of  the  name  of  Wood, 
who  was  obliged  to  fly  Great  Britain  to  avoid  a  prosecution. 

Mrs.  Barclay  requests  your  Royal  Highness'  acceptance  of 
her  most  respectful  regards,  and  desires  me  to  add  that  she 
feels  herself  greatly  flattered  by  finding  you  still  hold  her  in 
remembrance. 

TO   GENEBAL  DE  LANCEY. 

New  York  2nd  Deer.  1801. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

By  the  promotions  Stated  in  the  London  Gazette  of  the  5th 
of  Sepf.  I  learn  that  my  son  De  Lancey  Barclay  has  been  re- 

1  Barclay's  fears  for  Sir  John  were  They  were  then  colonized  at  Preston, 
unfounded,  for  he  continued  Gover-  where  they  were  supported  at  very 
nor  of  Nova  Scotia  until  1808,  when  great  expense  by  the  Government 
he  was  retired  upon  a  pension.  The  of  Jamaica ;  but  this  aid  being  with- 
Maroons  here  referred  to  were  re-  drawn  they  suffered  great  privations 
moved  from  Jamaica  in  1796.  They  during  the  cold  winters  of  the  prov- 
were  at  first  lodged  in  tents  near  the  ince,  and  were  finally,  in  1800,  re- 
City  of  Halifax  and  employed  by  moved  to  the  more  congenial  climate 
the  Duke  of  Kent  in  working  upon  of  Sierra  Leone.  See  Haliburton's 
the  fortifications,  where  the  Maroon  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  II,  p.  282 ;  Dai- 
Bastion  still  commemorates  them,  las's  History  of  the  Maroons. 


136       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

moved  from  the  41  Regt.  to  a  cornetcy  in  the  17th  Light  Dra 
goons.1  I  am  satisfied  he  owes  this  promotion  wholly  to  your 
kindness,  and  am  gratefully  sensible  of  this  continued  testi 
mony  of  your  friendly  disposition  to  me  and  mine.  He  is  at 
present  at  Montreal  in  Canada  with  the  41s*  Reg*  I  have  writ 
ten  to  him  informing  him  of  his  promotion  and  to  L*  General 
Hunter,  requesting  that  he  may  have  leave  to  come  to  New 
York  in  his  way  to  England  to  join  his  Regiment.  He  will 
therefore  leave  this  in  February  or  March;  not  a  moment 
shall  be  lost. — I  can  confidently  assure  you  my  dear  Sir,  that 
an  acquaintance  with  my  Son,  will  satisfy  you  that  your  good 
offices  have  not  been  improperly  bestowed  on  him. —  I  hope  to 
embark  with  him  for  London.  By  this  conveyance  I  send  you 
two  Barrels  best  Newtown  pippins,  which  I  hope  will  arrive  in 
good  order — They  are  addressed  to  Brook  Watson  Esqr  & 
Co. —  Present  Mrs.  Barclay's  and  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  and 
Miss  DeLancey. 


TO  MB.   BROUGHTON. 

New  York,  13th  Dec"  1801. 
SIR. 

Your  favor  of  the  llth  Decr  covering  the  bill  of  laden  and 
ace*  of  the  Statutes  at  large,  which  you  have  had  the  Goodness 
to  ship  me,  also  the  certificates  of  the  two  half  tickets  in  the 
State  lottery  I  recd  by  the  Harlequin  Packet  —  Accept  my 
thanks  for  the  trouble  you  have  taken — I  shall  make  no  re 
marks  on  the  quarterly  amount  you  receive  for  me,  waiting 
your  answer  to  my  letter  on  that  subject,  farther  than  to 
observe  it  appears  less  than  my  predecessor's,  while  my  situa 
tion  requires  at  least  the  same;  for  two  reasons  —  First  be 
cause  the  price  of  every  article  of  Life  is  greatly  enhanced  and 
secondly  from  my  seeing  more  company  in  a  month,  than  Sir 
John  Temple  did  in  a  year. —  The  latter  is  not  from  inclina- 

1  General  De  Lancey  was  Colonel  date  August  29,  1801,  and  he  was 
of  this  Regiment.  De  Lancey  Bar-  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  the 
clay's  Commission  as  Cornet  bears  same  Regiment  on  July  9,  1802. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  137 

tion,  but  with  a  view  to  further  His  Majestys  Service  —  of  the 
propriety  of  which  every  days  experience  convinces  me — I  will 
thank  you  to  hint  this  to  Mr  Hammond,  in  the  Event  of  my 
present  allowance  being  less  than  Sir  John  Temples.  I  do  not 
under  the  present  circumstances  of  the  Nation  wish  it  more. 
But  rest  assured  my  annual  expenses  exceed  £2200  Sterling 
per  annum  j  and  yet  economy  presides  in  my  family. — 

Mr.  Jefferson  as  you  will  perceive  is  President  —  The  federal 
party,  I  mean  the  moderate  ones  are  much  pleased  with  his 
Speech,  and  augur  a  happy  administration. — I  wish  their  ex 
pectations  may  be  realized  —  The  better  informed  consider  it 
vox  et  preteria  nihil — 


TO    DANIEL    COXE,   LONDON. 

New  York  4th  February  1802. 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

By  the  Brothers  I  replied  to  your  favor  of  the  14th  of  October. 
I  at  the  same  time  informed  you,  that  I  had  consulted  with  all 
my  Law  friends  in  this  City,  who  agreed  in  opinion  with  me, 
that  there  was  not  the  most  remote  possibility  of  any  success  to 
an  application  of  Mrs  Beverley  Robinson  for  a  compensation 
for  her  right  of  Dower  in  Lands  in  this  State ;  or  for  lands 
which  she  owned  in  fee. —  Mrs  Robinson,  as  well  as  many  other 
feme  coverts  were  attainted  with  their  Husbands  in  the  Act  of 
this  State  passed  in  1776,1  and  the  disposition  of  the  Legisla 
ture  has  ever  been  not  to  open  a  door  for  claims  under  that 
Act. —  In  addition  to  this  Mrs  Kempes  and  Mrs  Margaret  De 
Lanceys  present  claims  (with  those  of  many  others)  have  so 
alarmed  the  people  of  this  State,  as  to  render  it  a  subject  wor 
thy  of  notice  in  the  Governors  speech  at  the  opening  of  the 

1  The  act  of  October  22,  1779,  is  under  this  act.     This  is  believed  to 

intended.     Mrs.  Beverly  Robinson,  be  the  only  case,  here  or  in  England, 

her  sister  Mrs.  Roger  Morris,  and  in  which  women  were  attainted  of 

Mrs.  Inglis, — wife  of  the  then  rector  high    treason,    and    banished    and 

of  Trinity  Church, —  were  attainted  threatened  with  death. 


138       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

present  Session  of  the  Legislature.1  What  the  event  will  be  I 
dare  not  predict  —  I  hope  favorable,  but  both  MrB  Kempes  and 
Mrs  De  Lanceys  Council  advise  a  composition  at  almost  any 
rate  rather  than  proceeding  with  our  suits  at  Law  and  now  at 
Issue.  They  apprehend  that  when  these  causes  are  brought  up 
before  the  Court  of  Errors  that  the  Senate  will  reverse  the 
Judgement  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  declare  that  a  Wife  of 
an  attainted  person  cannot  recover  her  Dower.  We  have  also 
ascertained  that  the  Attorney  General  has  Legislative  orders 
to  throw  every  possible  obstacle  in  the  way,  and  to  contend 
inch  by  inch  with  us. —  I  hope  before  I  leave  this,  which  will  be 
by  the  next  Packet,  that  something  will  be  done  by  the  Legis 
lature,  and  on  reasonable  principles.  I  send  you  the  paper 
containing  the  Governors  Speech.  Have  the  goodness  to  com 
municate  the  purport  of  this  to  your  amiable  Sister.  I  would 
write  her  by  this  Packet,  but  I  dread  the  task,  as  I  should  be 
under  the  necessity  of  mentioning  the  loss  of  my  worthy 
friend  Captain  Church.  Whose  memory  will  ever  be  dear  to 
many  of  his  friends  in  America,  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain. 


TO   MES.  MAKGARET   DE    LANCEY. 

New  York  6th  February  1802. 
MY  DEAR  MADAM 

By  the  advice  of  your  Council  Mr  Harrison  and  General 
Hamilton  (as  mentioned  in  my  letter  to  you  of  the  4th  of  Decr) 
Mr  Colden  proceeds  for  Albany  to  make  one  more  attempt  for 
an  amicable  composition  with  the  Legislature  of  this  State 

1  "  The  claims  of  dower  by  wid-  been  commenced    against   persons 

ows  of  attainted  persons  have  as-  deriving  title  from  the  state.    While 

sumed  so  serious  an  aspect,  that  the  the  honor  of  the  state  demands  that 

commissioners  appointed  by  law  for  all  proper  claims  should  be  satisfied, 

their    liquidation    and    settlement,  an    attention    to    public    economy 

deemed  it  expedient  at  the  last  ses-  equally  requires  that  the  treasury 

sion  to  submit  them  to  the  decision  should  be  guarded  against  improper 

of  the  legislature ;  and  as  nothing  or  fraudulent  demands."    Governor 

was  definitely  arranged  at  that  pe-  Clinton's  speech,  January  26,  1802. 
riod,  a  great  number  of  suits  have 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  139 

now  sitting  in  that  City ;  previous  to  our  inquiring  the  amount 
of  your  Dower  in  the  trial  of  the  issues  now  joined  between 
you,  and  several  of  the  tenants. — Inclosed  is  the  Governor's 
speech  at  the  opening  of  the  session — ;  in  which  he  makes  spe 
cific  remarks  on  the  claims  and  suits  now  made  and  depending 
by  widows  of  attainted  persons  for  lands  in  this  State.  It  is 
impossible  from  the  mode  in  which  he  expressed  himself  to 
ascertain  whether  it  is  his  opinion  that  an  equitable  allowance 
should  be  made  in  extinguishing  the  claims  for  dower.  Gen 
tlemen  in  this  place  think  he  is  inclined  to  an  opposite  line  of 
conduct — Mr  Golden  however  proceeds  with  every  necessary 
instruction,  and  letters  to  many  of  the  leading  members  on 
both  sides  in  the  house. — 

I  lament  that  Mr  Brockholst  Livingston1  has  vacated  his 
seat,  by  accepting  the  appointment  of  Judge  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  as  he  had  promised  me  his  interest  in  obtaining  you 
justice — He  will  however  deliver  his  sentiments  to  the  lead 
ing  Members  and  recommends  their  making  reasonable  com 
pensation — 

I  hope  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  write  you  in  a  few  weeks 
that  your  business  is  terminated  satisfactorily,  but  I  cannot 
say  I  am  sanguine  in  my  expectations. — 


FKOM   MB.  GOLDEN. 

Albany  17  February,  1802. 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

On  my  arrival  at  this  place  I  found  that  the  Legislature  had 
anticipated  the  application  I  was  about  to  make  to  them,  and 
have  by  a  resolution  originating  with  Mr.  De  Witt  Clinton 
in  the  Senate  almost  shut  out  every  hope  of  compromising 
with  the  State  on  any  Terms  whatever  —  By  the  resolution 
I  have  mentioned  the  Senate  have  directed  the  Attorney 
General  to  bring  before  them  by  writ  of  error  any  judg- 

1  Appointed  this  year  a  Judge  of    Justices  of  the   Supreme   Court  of 
the  New- York  Supreme  Court.     In    the  United  States. 
1807  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 


140        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ment  that  may  be  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  Wid 
ows. —  We  may  say  that  Mr.  Clinton  was  lost  to  all  kind  of 
delicacy  when  by  an  order  of  this  sort  he  shewed  his  anxiety 
to  pass  judgement  on  the  point  to  be  brought  before  him — We 
ma}''  say  that  this  resolution  discovers  an  eagerness  very  incon 
sistent  with  the  dignity  of  a  Senate,  and  with  an  intention  to 
be  upright  and  impartial  judges  —  Mr.  Clinton  might  be  told 
that  by  resisting  the  judgement  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  favor 
of  the  Widows  he  was  persecuting  the  inocent  for  the  sake  of 
his  ambition,  and  to  purchase  an  infamous  popularity  by  the 
few  thousand  dollars  that  may  be  saved  to  the  state  thro  his 
machinations  —  But  all  those  reproaches  would  be  in  vain.  I 
think  that  Mr.  Clinton  and  the  majority  of  both  houses  which 
he  governs  absolutely,  are  men  utterly  void  of  feeling  and 
honor  —  Is  it  right?  or  wrong!  are  questions  that  never  occur 
to  them  in  the  consideration  of  a  measure —  when  it  is  ascer 
tained  whether  it  will  be  popular  or  otherwise,  it  is  deter 
mined — 

Finding  that  the  board  would  not  move  a  step  in  the  busi 
ness  of  Mrs.  De  Lancy  I  yesterday  presented  a  memorial  to 
the  house  of  assembly — In  which  I  stated  that  she  was  desirous 
of  compromising  with  the  State  on  terms  the  most  favorable  to 
them,  and  I  endeavored  to  rouse  the  sympathy  &  justice  of  the 
house  and  a  concern  for  the  honor  and  reputation  of  the  na 
tion,  as  well  as  of  the  individual  members  who  compose  its 
Legislature  —  Yesterday,  altho  it  was  introduced  in  a  very 
handsome  manner  by  my  friend  Mr.  Henry,  nothing  was  done 
with  this.  What  will  be  its  fate  it  is  difficult  to  say  but  I 
think  there  is  hardly  anything  to  be  hoped  — 

I  am  &c  CADWALLADER  D.  GOLDEN. 


FROM   MR.   GOLDEN. 

Albany  17th.  February  1802. 
MY  DEAR   SlR:  — 

Since  I  wrote  to  you  yesterday  the  business  that  I  am  upon 
I  think  wears  a  more  favorable  aspect — I  have  had  an  oppor- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  141 

tunity  of  conversing  with  most  of  the  influential  members  in 
the  Legislature  on  either  side  and  hope  I  have  made  an  im 
pression  on  their  minds  propitious  to  our  cause — A  commit 
tee  has  been  appointed  before  which  I  have  appeared  and 
I  am  again  to  meet  them  to-morrow  —  And  I  have  reason  to 
hope  that  they  will  make  a  report  more  favorable  than  I  a  few 
days  since  expected  to  obtain  —  Tho  it  will  by  no  means  meet 
the  justice  of  the  claim  —  If  such  a  report  should  be  made,  and 
should  meet  with  serious  opposition  in  the  house,  I  have  in 
structed  my  friends  to  ask  permission  for  the  claimants  to  be 
heard  by  counsel  at  the  Bar. 

Notwithstanding  all  I  have  said  you  must  not  be  too  san 
guine  as  to  my  success  —  If  you  could  know  of  what  strange 
materials  our  present  honorable  legislature  is  composed  you 
w^  easily  believe  that  it  is  difficult  to  calculate  upon  their 
acts  —  Yet  I  verily  believe  that  unless  the  Widows  are  success 
ful  in  this  mode,  they  can  not  expect  it  by  other  means.  For 
the  resolution  of  the  Senate  which  I  mentioned  to  you  yester 
day  is  too  sure  an  evidence  of  the  spirit  with  which  the  Court 
of  Errors  would  hear  their  cause. 


FBOM  ME.  GOLDEN. 

New  York  March  25th,  1802. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Agreeably  to  your  request  I  proceed  to  give  you  some  ac- 
ctfunt  of  what  I  have  been  doing  at  Albany  in  relation  to  the 
claims  of  Mrs.  Kempe  and  Mrs.  Delancy. 

The  releases  which  I  herewith  send  you  to  be  executed  by 
Mrs.  Kempe  will  sufficiently  explain  the  bargain,  I  have  made 
in  her  behalf  with  the  State.  It  is  to  be  understood  however, 
that  Mrs.  Kempe  has  it  entirely  in  her  power  to  agree  to  this 
offer  on  the  part  of  the  State,  or  not  as  she  may  think  proper. 
If  she  does  not  agree  the  various  suits  that  have  been  in 
stituted  may  be  prosecuted  —  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
the  costs  of  these  suits  are  to  be  paid  out  of  the  sum  men 
tioned  in  the  release. 


142        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  lands  mentioned  in  the  paper 
entitled  a  Schedule  of  the  real  estate  of  the  late  John  Taber 
Kempe,  Esquire  are  situated  in  the  State  of  Vermont. 

Taking  this  into  consideration  and  also  the  disposition  of 
our  present  rulers  I  think  Mrs.  Kempe  certainly  ought  to  ac 
cept  this  sum.  Altho  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  it  is  not 
more  than  £  of  the  real  value  of  her  dower.1 

As  to  Mrs.  Delancy's  affairs  I  wish  the  information  I  have  to 
give  you  was  more  satisfactory  than  what  I  can  now  offer  you. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  repeat  a  detail  of  the  cir 
cumstances  that  occurred  last  winter.  It  will  be  sufficient  to 
say  that  what  was  then  done  satisfied  us  that  all  application 
to  the  board  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  Extinguishing  Claims 
of  this  sort  would  be  in  vain.  They  have  said  that  the  amount 
Mrs.  Delancy  demanded  was  far  beyond  what  the  legislature 
had  in  view,  when  the  power  of  this  board  was  delegated  And 
therefore  they  refused  to  act  and  referred  us  to  the  legislature. 
Of  course  all  my  applications  this  winter  have  been  to  that 
body.  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  soon  after  my  arrival  in  Al 
bany  to  find  a  resolution  brought  forward  in  the  Senate  re 
quiring  the  Attorney  General  to  bring  before  the  Court  of 
Errors  all  judgments  that  had  been  or  should  be  rendered  in 
favor  of  the  right  of  Dower  of  the  widows  of  persons  whose 
estates  had  been  confiscated.  You  know  the  Court  of  Errors 
is  composed  of  the  very  persons  who  as  Senators  passed  this 
resolution.  And  it  is  a  sufficient  indication  of  what  would  be 
the  event  of  the  Causes  which  they  manifest  such  a  desire  to 
have  before  them. 

I  presented  a  memorial  to  the  Assembly  which  was  com 
mitted  to  three  Gentlemen  two  of  them  leaders  of  the  political 
parties  in  the  Legislature.  After  an  attendance  on  this  Com 
mittee  of  more  than  four  weeks,  in  which  time  I  made  it  a 
point  to  meet  them  or  at  least  to  see  one  of  them  every  day,  I 
was,  after  an  absence  from  my  office  and  family  so  much 
longer  than  I  expected  when  I  left  them,  obliged  to  return  be- 

1  The  sum  for  which  Mrs.  Kempe's  claims  were  released,  after  deducting 
all  counsel  fees  and  expenses,  amounted  to  $5713.39. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1799-1802  143 

fore  I  could  bring  them  to  make  any  report  upon  the  subject. 
I  however  had  made  them  several  propositions  and  obtained  a 
promise  that  they  would  report  in  a  few  days. 

I  left  the  business  in  charge  of  Mr.  Emott  who  is  a  partner 
of  Mr.  Henry  one  of  the  Committee.  I  am  convinced  Mr. 
Emott  will  attend  to  the  business.  And  I  hope  I  shall  hear 
from  him  before  you  leave  us. 

I  am  &c.  CADWALLADER  D.  GOLDEN.1 


TO   LOKD   HAWKESBURY. 

New  York  2d  April,  1802. 
MY  LORD, 

By  the  Packet  which  arrived  last  Evening  I  was  honored 
with  your  Lordships  letter  of  the  13th  of  February,  in  which 
you  request  my  opinion,  whether  in  the  present  state  of  the 
commercial  intercourse  between  His  Majestys  Dominions  and 
the  United  States,  it  is  expedient  to  make  a  permanent  Estab 
lishment  of  a  Vice  Consulship  at  New  Port  in  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island. — 

Rhode  Island  is  the  second  smallest  state  in  the  Union,  pos 
sessed  of  but  few  seaports,  and  carrying  on  a  very  limited 
Commerce  when  compared  with  most  of  the  other  States ;  the 
appointment  therefore  of  a  Vice  Consul  to  that  State  appears 
to  me  far  from  necessary  taking  the  official  duty  simply  into 
consideration.  The  Eastern  part  of  the  State  of  Connecticut, 

1  Here  we  take  leave  of  Mrs.  De  This  amount  was  fixed  by  a  report 
Lancey  and  her  claims.  On  April  5,  of  the  Commissioners, —  the  Comp- 
1802,  the  Assembly  passed  a  resolu-  troller,  Attorney-General,  and  Sur- 
tion  in  favor  of  a  compromise  ;  and  veyor-General  of  the  State, —  and 
as  Barclay  was  then  on  the  point  of  was  duly  approved  by  the  Governor, 
sailing  for  England,  he  procured  a  Mrs.  De  Lancey  gave  a  release  of  all 
letter  from  Harison  advising  a  set-  her  claims  and  accepted  the  money, 
tlement.  While  in  England  Barclay  though  not  without  vigorous  grumb- 
succeeded  in  persuading  Mrs.  De  ling  at  Mr.  Colden's  bill,  which  was 
Lancey  to  accept  a  moderate  sum,  only  paid  after  the  matter  had  been 
and  on  January  31,  1803,  while  he  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  Gen- 
was  still  abroad,  $34,000  was  offered,  eral  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Harison. 


144        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

would  be  a  preferable  situation  for  the  residence  of  a  Vice  Con 
sul,  within  the  Limits  of  whose  Jurisdiction  Rhode  Island  may 
be  included — New  London  should  be  the  place  of  his  residence, 
a  central  position  in  the  State,  distant  only  sixty  miles  from 
Providence  in  Rhode  Island,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  from 
this  City. —  I  cannot  however  my  Lord  add  that  I  even  con 
sider  a  consular  appointment  necessary  for  Connecticut. —  In 
a  political  point  of  view  there  can  be  no  question,  but  that 
Consuls  or  Vice  Consuls  in  both  these  States,  if  Men  of  Pru 
dence  and  engaging  manner,  might  forward  His  Majestys  In 
terests,  and  predispose  the  Inhabitants  in  favor  of  the  British 
Government.  In  this  point  of  view  if  only  one  Vice  Consul 
is  appointed,  Rhode  Island  is  the  State,  and  New  Port  the 
place  for  his  residence  —  During  the  Summer  Season  New 
Port  is  crowded  with  the  most  fashionable  influential  Charac 
ters  from  Maryland  to  Georgia,  who  go  thither  for  the  recov 
ery  of  their  health  or  to  avoid  the  prevailing  summer  epidem 
ics  of  a  southern  climate.  A  consul  therefore  resident  in  New 
Port  would  have  an  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  first  Characters  in  America  :  and  by  gaining  on  their  con 
fidence  naturally  lead  them  to  think  favorably  of  the  country 
he  represents  — 


CHAPTER  IV 

CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804 

ABOUT  April  10,  1802,  Colonel  Barclay,  with  Ms 
J_JL  son  De  Lancey,  embarked  on  the  packet  for 
England,  touched  doubtless  at  Halifax,  and  in  due 
season  reached  his  destination.  It  was  his  first  visit  to 
England,  and  it  must  have  been  full  of  pleasure  and 
interest.  He  had  many  old  friends  and  connections 
among  the  American  loyalists  who  still  survived;  he 
was  favorably  known  to  the  official  world ;  and  he  met 
with  a  warm  welcome  from  his  distant  relatives,  the 
Barclays  of  the  well-known  banking  and  brewing  firms 
in  London.  Unfortunately  his  correspondence  for  this 
period  has  not  been  preserved,  but  we  get  one  glimpse 
of  him  through  the  official  correspondence  of  the  Amer 
ican  minister.  Madison,  writing  to  Eufus  King  in 
June,  1802,  had  instructed  him  to  endeavor  to  nego 
tiate  a  treaty  for  settling  the  remaining  questions  rela 
tive  to  the  boundary  between  the  two  nations,  and 
especially  those  in  regard  to  the  islands  in  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquoddy.  On  February  28,  1803,  King  wrote 
from  London  that  by  Lord  Hawkesbury's  desire  he  had 
conferred  with  Colonel  Barclay  on  the  subject,  and  as 
the  result  of  the  conversation  saw  nothing  to  impede  a 
settlement.1 

On  April  4,  1803,  Barclay  left  London,  and  on  May 
21,  after  "  an  ordinary  passage  of  six  weeks,"  reached 


Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Vol.  II,  p.  590. 


10 


145 


146        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

New- York,  and  found  his  wife  and  such  of  his  chil 
dren  as  were  at  home  all  in  good  health.  But  they 
were  anxiously  awaiting  the  return  of  Beverley,  the 
fourth  son,  who  had  gone  South  to  avoid  the  rigors  of 
a  New- York  winter.  He  had  developed  during  the  pre 
vious  year  serious  symptoms  of  a  pulmonary  complaint, 
and  had  now  been  spending  several  months  in  South 
Carolina, — probably  with  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Izard.  The 
change  of  climate  had,  however,  come  too  late.  On 
June  5th  he  arrived  in  New- York  in  the  last  stages  of 
consumption,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  the  same  month, 
being  then  not  much  more  than  sixteen  years  of  age. 
"He  was,"  said  Barclay,  writing  to  a  friend,  "one  of 
the  most  amiable  and  promising  of  children,  who  never 
had  rendered  censure  or  admonition  necessary,  and 
whose  application  to  his  studies,  added  to  more  than 
ordinary  natural  abilities,  gave  me  every  reason  to 
hope  he  would  have  made  a  distinguished  literary 
character.  You  who  are  a  Parent  and  blessed  as  I  am 
with  the  best  and  most  lovely  of  Children  can  feel  for 
Mrs.  Barclay  and  myself  under  this  severe  affliction." 
The  threatening  aspect  of  the  relations  between 
England  and  the  United  States,  however,  soon  came 
to  divert  Barclay's  thoughts  and  claim  his  most  seri 
ous  attention.  On  May  16,  while  he  was  still  at  sea, 
war  had  again  been  declared  between  England  and 
France,  and  Napoleon  at  once  began  his  preparations 
for  an  invasion  of  England.  The  war  was,  however, 
mainly  carried  on  at  sea,  and  especially  in  the  West 
Indies,  where  St.  Lucie,  Tobago,  and  Dutch  Gruiana 
were  taken  by  the  British  forces,  and  the  French 
islands  were  blockaded.  The  export  of  French  sugars 
and  other  colonial  products  was  a  trade  which  the  Brit 
ish  government  particularly  sought  to  break  up ;  and 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  147 

their  courts  held  that  such  goods,  if  found  in  transit  on 
a  neutral  ship,  rendered  the  vessel  as  well  as  the  cargo 
liable  to  condemnation.  British  squadrons  were  there 
fore  kept  constantly  cruising  off  the  coast  from  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  to  the  capes  of  Virginia,  searching  one 
American  vessel  after  another  in  the  effort  to  find 
some  pretext  for  putting  a  prize  crew  aboard  and  or 
dering  her  off  to  the  Admiralty  Court  at  Halifax. 
Above  all,  the  impressment  of  seamen  went  on  more 
vigorously  than  ever. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  post  of  British  Con 
sul  in  New- York  became  every  day  more  delicate  and 
important.  Hardly  an  American  vessel  came  in  but 
had  been  searched  by  an  English  frigate,  and  had  had 
men  taken  from  her  decks.  On  the  other  hand,  every 
British  ship  that  entered  the  harbor  lost  men  by  deser 
tion.  The  great  majority  of  the  population  openly 
sympathized  with  the  French  cause,  and  the  author 
ities  made  no  pretense  of  trying  to  assist  in  recovering 
deserters.  As  yet  there  was  no  open  outbreak;  but 
with  every  English  frigate  that  took  up  her  station  off 
the  Hook, — or,  worse  still,  that  came  up  to  the  Nar 
rows, — there  was  the  hourly  chance  of  some  provoking 
insult  or  reckless  act  of  violence,  that  might  bring 
about  an  actual  collision. 

Jerome  Bonaparte's  presence  in  the  United  States 
added  another  object  for  the  watchfulness  of  the  Eng 
lish  naval  force,  and  was  another  source  of  anxiety  to 
the  British  Consul. 

How  Barclay  steered  his  difficult  course  in  these 
troubled  times  may  be  judged  from  the  letters  which 
follow. 

He  continued  to  live  in  New- York ;  but  from  August 
20  to  October  31,  1803,  the  prevalence  of  yellow  fever 


148        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

compelled  him  to  remove  with  his  family  to  Westches- 
ter.  On  the  very  day  that  the  family  removed  to  the 
country,  Susan,  the  third  daughter,  was  married  at  St. 
Mark's  Church  to  Peter  G-erard  Stuy vesant, —  a  young 
gentleman  of  excellent  family  and  a  genteel  fortune.1 


TO   VICE-ADMIKAL   SIK  ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  22  July,  1803. 
(Private.) 

It  is  with  regret  that  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  informing 
you  that  the  Pilots  of  New  York  are  to  a  man  inclined  rather 
to  favor  the  french,  than  the  English,  being  of  the  description 
termed  in  the  Politics  of  America,  democrats  and  not  federal 
ists.  I  mention  this  that  you  may  caution  the  officers  under 
your  command  in  the  event  of  their  being  off  this  place  not  to 
give  credit  to  anything  they  may  say,  but  to  act  from  their 
own  Judgment  and  discretion. —  There  is  a  man  of  the  name 
of  Daniel,  lately  dismissed  the  Service  of  Pilot,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  his  Having  run  the  American  Frigate  Boston  on 
Shore,  but  in  reality  because  he  was  a  federalist  and  much  at 
tached  to  our  Government  —  He  was  the  oldest  and  best  Pilot 
in  New  York,  and  I  think  may  be  of  Service  if  employed  to 
obtain  private  information  by  associating  with  the  Pilots  — 
The  Spanish  Brig  and  French  Ship  which  arrived  here  at  the 
time  the  Lilly  was  off  the  Hook,  have  sold  their  Cargoes  in 
this  City,  and  the  Ship  is  up  for  sale  —  I  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  ascertain  whether  the  other  French  Ship  will  after 
she  is  repaired  take  in  her  cargo  and  proceed  for  France.  Of 
this  I  will  give  you  the  earliest  notice  — 

Several  Seamen  have  engaged  with  me  to  join  your  Squad- 

1  He  was  directly  descended  from  stem,  the  first  Lord  of  the  Manor, 

the  last  of  the  Dutch  governors;  and  Mr.   Stuyvesant  was  "born  in  1778, 

his  mother  was  Margaret  Livingston,  graduated  at  Columbia  College   in 

a  granddaughter  of  Robert  Living-  1794,  and  died  without  issue  in  1847. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  149 

ron,  and  if  they  continue  of  the  same  mind  they  shall  be  sent 
in  the  Earl  of  Leicester  Packet  —  I  have  desired  Captain 
Sharpe  of  the  Packet  to  send  his  Boatswain  and  a  few  good 
men  on  shore  to  endeavor  to  recruit  Seamen. 


TO   LOED   HAWKESBURY. 

New  York  29th  July,  1803. 
MY  LORD. 

I  have  received  correct  information  of  Jerome  Bonaparte 
having  arrived  from  the  West  Indies  to  these  States,  and  that 
he  was  in  Baltimore  on  the  27th  Instant ;  his  wish  is  to  get  to 
France  5  he  travels  under  an  assumed  name,  and  is  very  appre 
hensive  of  being  taken  by  some  of  our  ships  of  War  in  his  way 
home. — He  has  talked  of  coming  on  from  Baltimore  to  this  city 
in  order  to  embark  ;  but  the  well  known  Commodore  Barney  1 
having  taken  him  to  his  house  in  Baltimore,  it  is  suspected 
that  he  will  persuade  him  to  take  his  passage  from  thence ; 
at  all  Events  it  is  uncertain  from  what  port  he  may  sail. — 

I  take  the  Liberty  to  give  your  Lordship  a  description  of 
him  and  his  companions  and  attendant,  that  you  may  if  you 
think  it  of  moment  have  it  communicated  to  the  officers  of  the 
Navy  should  they  fall  into  their  hands. —  Jerome  Bonaparte 
appears  to  be  from  twenty  to  twenty  three  years  of  age,2  of  a 
slender  make  and  sallow  complexion,  about  5  feet  6  or  7  Inches 
in  height. —  His  hair  is  cropped  black  and  smooth,  but  at  times 
he  adds  a  que  and  powder.  There  are  two  Gentlemen  who 
travel  with  him.  The  first  about  30  years  of  age,  dark  com 
plexion,  short  curly  dark  hair,  marked  a  little  with  the  small 
pox  and  has  bad  upper  teeth,  in  height  about  5  feet  9  or  5-10. 
The  second  is  of  the  same  stature  fair  complexion  thick,  bushy, 
sandy  or  reddish  hair,  marked  also  a  little  with  the  small  pox ; 

i  Joshua  Barney  was  born  in  1759,  lish  of  piracy.     From  1794  to  1800  he 

and  died  in  1818.     He  was  in  the  served  in  the  French  Navy. 

United  States  Naval  Service  during  2  He  was  born  November  15,  1784, 

the  Revolution,  was  at  times  a  pri-  and  was  therefore  not  quite  nineteen 

vateer,  and  was  accused  by  the  Eng-  years  old. 

lOA 


150        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

has  on  his  left  ear  a  remarkable  mole,  immediately  where  an 
ear  is  perforated  for  a  ring. —  They  pass  under  feigned  names. 
Jerome  Bonaparte  —  assumes  that  of  Dalbert,  or  D'Albert. 
The  first  described  of  his  Companions  calls  himself  Armand, 
and  the  other  is  styled  Alexander.  I  should  not  however  be 
surprized  if  they  again  changed  their  names.  A  Servant  of 
about  24  years,  5  feet  8  or  9  Inches  attends  them,  his  com 
plexion  and  hair  dark,  the  latter  long  and  worn  in  a  que.  He 
wears  Earrings.1 

Should  they  come  to  this  City,  I  will  exert  every  nerve  to 
find  out  the  precise  time  of  their  sailing,  and  lay  a  plan  to 
have  them  taken. —  The  above  information  shall  be  forwarded 
to  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  at  Halifax. 


TO   ME.  HAMMOND. 

New  York  3d  October,  1803. 

SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  lay  before  you  the  following  statement 
for  the  information  of  Lord  Hawkesbury,  and  in  the  event  of 
his  considering  it  of  sufficient  moment,  that  he  may  transmit 
the  same  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty. 

Nathan  Haley  an  American  citizen, —  Master  of  the  Ameri 
can  Ship  Hare  sailed  from  London  in  the  year  1797  for  New 
York;  but  instead  of  proceeding  for  that  place,  he  fraudu 
lently  carried  the  Ship  into  Dieppe,  in  the  hope  of  having  her 
condemned  to  him  as  a  prize,  he  being  at  that  time  invested 
with  a  commission  in  the  French  Service.  The  Cargo  and 
probably  the  Ship  was  insured  in  London,  and  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  Mr  Isaac  Classon  the  owner  of  the  Ship  was  not  ig 
norant  of  Haleys  intention.  The  Underwriters  in  London 
have  long  since  paid  the  amount  assured. 

1  Jerome  at  this  time  had  with  him  young  man  named  Rewbel,  who  af- 

M.  Meyronnet,  a  Lieutenant  in  the  terward  rose  to  the  rank  of  General 

French  Navy ;  a  private  secretary,  in  the  French  Army.     See  Ducasse, 

M.  Le  Camus  ;   a  physician ;  and  a  Les  Eois  Freres  de  Napoleon  I. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  151 

Haley  is  now  on  the  point  of  sailing  in  a  small  ship  named 
the  Brutus ;  her  description  is  inclosed,  and  it  is  generally  sup 
posed  with  a  view  to  capture  British  merchant  ships  —  It  is 
given  out  that  she  is  bound  for  the  West  Indies,  but  if  Tom 
Paine  goes  a  Passenger  with  him,  I  am  rather  apt  to  think 
they  will  proceed  to  France,  and  after  landing  Paine,  that 
Haley  will  cruize  on  the  English  coast  to  be  near  a  port  to 
send  his  Prizes.  From  the  construction  of  this  Ship,  Haley  can 
have  no  other  object  in  view,  because  as  a  Merchant  vessel, 
she  carries  very  little,  and  her  expenses  are  great.  Haley  is  a 
Native  of  Stonington  Town  in  Connecticut.  His  person  can 
easily  be  identified  here  and  in  London,  and  the  original  letter 
from  him  to  Isaac  Classon  (a  copy  whereof  I  have  the  Honor 
to  inclose)  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Underwriters  at  Lloyds, 
their  attornies,  or  the  agents  of  the  assured  on  that  Ship  and 
Cargo,  as  it  was  sent  home  to  enable  the  assured  to  recover 
from  the  Underwriters. —  The  ship  is  supposed  to  be  Nathan 
Haleys  property,  altho'  the  Sea  letter  is  taken  out  in  his  Bro 
thers  name.  It  is  riot  yet  ascertained  whether  Haley  will 
command  her  or  not,  but  he  will  assuredly  go  in  her. — Should 
she  be  met  by  any  of  His  Majestys  ships  of  War,  on  examina 
tion  I  trust  she  will  be  found  a  lawful  Prize  ;  at  all  Events 
Haley  and  Thomas  Paine  should  be  made  Prisoners  &  com 
mitted  for  Trial.  The  former  as  an  American  Subject,  having 
a  french  commission  in  1797,  and  by  virtue  of  that  carrying 
British  Property  into  an  Enemies  Port;  the  latter  as  a  British 
Subject  in  the  Service  of  France  in  the  last  War. —  I  have 
communicated  the  preceding  to  Vice  Admirals  Sir  Andrew 
Mitchell,  and  Sir  Thomas  Duckworth. — 

Permit  me  also  to  submit  for  the  consideration  of  His  Maj 
estys  Ministers,  the  propriety  of  prohibiting  during  the  pres 
ent  war  the  exportation  of  Gun  powder  to  these  States  as  an 
article  of  merchandize ;  three  fourths  of  which  is  sent  from 
hence  if  not  direct,  at  least  through  the  Danish  and  Spanish 
Islands  to  the  french  settlements  in  the  West  Indies.  A  Pilot 
boat  is  now  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  Saint  Croix  ladened 
with  powder,  with  one  tier  of  flour  over  it. 


152  COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

TO  VICE-ADMIKAL   SIR  ANDREW  MITCHELL. 

New  York,  5  Novr  1803. 
SlE. 

I  regret  that  some  of  our  eruizers  are  not  more  often  in  and 
out  of  this  port,  or  rather  off  and  on  it,  communicating  with 
me.  Col :  Hamilton1  expresses  the  same  Sentiments  with  re 
spect  to  the  Chesepeak. — The  French  Ship  which  came  into 
the  hook  early  last  Summer  at  the  same  time  with  His  Maj- 
estys  Ship  the  Lilly,  sailed  about  six  days  since  for  Bourdeaux 
with  a  very  valuable  cargo,  under  an  American  certificate  of 
ownership  as  the  property  of  a  Mr  John  Juhel  her  name  the 
Eliza,  Smith  master. —  I  can  prove  the  reverse  of  this,  and  she 
would  have  been  a  safe  prize. — A  schooner  named  the  Niad 
will  sail  the  first  fair  Wind  for  the  West  Indies,  ladened  with 
a  valuable  Cargo,  and  is  to  be  converted  into  a  privateer  on 
her  arrival.  She  is  owned  by  a  person  named  John  Cauchois, 
a  frenchman,  made  a  citizen  of  these  States  5  and  a  large 
french  Ship  now  nearly  loaded  will  sail  in  all  next  Week  for 
Bourdeaux  precisely  under  the  same  circumstances.  A  valua 
ble  french  Brig  and  a  Schooner  have  arrived  within  a  few 
days  from  the  West  Indies. 

Jerome  Bonaparte  appears  at  home  in  these  States,  and  it  is 
reported  that  he  is  soon  to  be  married  to  a  Miss  Patterson  a 
Lady  of  Baltimore  with  a  large  fortune.2 — This  City  is  once 
more  restored  to  health.  Had  the  Packet  sailed  on  Wednes 
day,  she  might  have  carried  my  letter  giving  an  account  and 
description  of  the  Eliza  for  Bourdeaux ;  but  Mr  Thornton  has 
detained  her  until  this  day,  and  now  the  Wind  is  Easterly  with 
every  appearance  of  foul  Weather. 


1  British  Consul  at  Norfolk,  Va.  chon,  the  French  charge  d'affaires, 

2  His  marriage-license  was  issued  who  pointed  out  to  all  parties  the 
October  29,   1803.      The   ceremony  invalidity  of  the  proposed  marriage 
was  postponed  in  consequence,  it  under  French  law.     Les  Rois  Freres 
would  seem,  of  the  efforts  of  Pi-  de  Napoleon  Pr,  p.  178. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  153 

TO   CAPTAIN   COCKBUKN.1 

New  York  15th  November  1803. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  am  much  pained  to  learn  of  the  desertion  of  eight  of  your 
men,  and  of  the  villainy  of  the  caulker  sent  down  from  hence, 
to  work  on  the  Frigate,  who  shamefully  enticed  them  to  de 
sert. —  The  Lieutenant  who  came  up  last  Evening  with  your 
Letter  to  the  Mayor 2  has  reported  to  you  my  opinion  on  this 
subject.  I  am  from  mature  reflection  confirmed  in  what  I  de 
sired  him  to  say  to  you,  towit  that  the  only  Measures  to  be 
adopted  against  the  caulker,  will  be  at  law,  as  a  misdemeanor 
in  attempting  to  interrupt  the  Harmony  which  at  present  ex 
ists  between  the  two  Nations.  Indeed  I  am  not  perfectly  clear 
that  even  an  Indictment  will  lay. —  Mr  Harison  the  ablest 
Counsel  in  America,  and  a  Gentleman  much  attached  to  Great 
Britain  coincides  in  opinion  with  me. — 

The  best  mode  to  be  adopted  is  to  state  the  facts  officially  to 
Mr  Merry,  and  request  he  will  apply  to  the  American  Govern 
ment  for  a  redress  of  this  act  of  sedition  &  Conspiracy  com 
mitted  by  an  American  Citizen  on  board  your  Ship. — When 
you  have  done  this,  you  have  performed  your  duty,  and  it  is 
more  than  probable  the  President  will  direct  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral  to  prosecute  this  man  ;  you  will  be  obliged  to  have  the 
Quarter  Master  here  as  the  Witness. — I  understand  the  Mayor 
will  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  recover  the  deserters  and 
send  them  to  you. 

My  advice  is  that  you  put  the  Caulker  at  Liberty  without 
Loss  of  time.  Whatever  his  Conduct  may  have  been,  his  de 
tention  can  be  punished. —  The  Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce 
&  Navigation  is  silent  on  this  Head. 

l  Afterward  Admiral  Cockburn,  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  on  November  9th. 
notorious  for  his  share  in  the  burn-  The  Phaeton  reached  New-York  No- 
ing  of  the  public  buildings  in  Wash-  vember  10th,  in  need  of  extensive 
ington.  He  was  at  this  time  in  repairs. 

command  of  H.  M.   S.  Phaeton,  in  2  De  Witt  Clinton,  who  had  just 

which  Anthony  Merry,  the  new  Brit-  been  appointed  upon  the  resigna- 

ish  minister,  had  come  over,  landing  tion  of  Edward  Livingston. 


154  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO  VICE-ADMIRAL    SIE  ANDREW    MITCHELL. 

New  York,  22d  Novr  1803. 
SIR. 

The  Prince  Adolphus  Packet  brought  me  your  respective 
Letters  of  the  12th  and  17th  of  October. — Jerome  Bonaparte  ar 
rived  here  on  the  19th  current,  with  an  intention,  as  it  is  said, 
of  passing  the  Winter ;  a  circumstance  far  from  improbable, 
as  he  appears  in  full  pursuit  of  matrimony.  While  at  Balti 
more  he  was  twice  on  the  Eve  of  marriage,  unfortunate  how 
ever  for  him  both  matches  were  broken  off  either  by  the 
Ladies  or  their  friends.  Such  are  the  best  accounts  from 
thence.  Inclosed  is  an  anecdote  respecting  him.1  —  Your  let 
ter  for  Mr  Stewart  has  been  forwarded  to  him,  he  not  having 
yet  returned  to  town  owing  to  the  indisposition  of  his  Lady. — 

His  Majestys  Ship  Phaeton  Cap*  Cockburn  which  brought 
out  Mr  Merry  to  Norfolk  in  Virginia,  arrived  here  about  ten 
days  since  to  refit.  Cap*  Cockburn  has  lost  fourteen  men  by 
desertion.  Her  destination  is  secret,  at  least  too  much  so  to 
trust  it  in  a  letter  going  by  a  common  conveyance.2  She  will 
not  leave  this  under  ten  days,  possibly  double  that  period. — 

Captain  Bradley  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Cambrian  was  off 
this  place,  the  last  of  September  ;  and  dispatched  a  Pilot  Boat 
to  me  with  a  letter,  requesting  to  be  informed,  whether  the 
report  was  correct  that  the  Andromache  Cap*  Laurie  was  on 
shore  at  Cape  Hatteras.  I  next  day  returned  him  an  answer, 
that  it  never  had  been  credited,  and  from  the  period  elapsed 
without  further  confirmation  could  not  be  true.  We  have 
not  any  news  at  present.  The  French  Ship  covered  by  an 
American  Certificate  sailed  from  Bourdeaux  on  Saturday,  her 
present  name  the  Jane. 

Captain  Bradley  in  the  Evening  of  the  1st  of  October  im 
pressed  from  on  board  the  Ship  American  Packet,  Solomon 

1  No  copy  of  the  "  anecdote  "  was  Britain.     See  the  letter  to  Merry  of 
preserved.     It  may  probably  have  December  9,  1803.     A  part  of  the 
been  a  newspaper  cutting.  money  was  shipped  to  Calcutta  in 

2  He  was  to  carry  out  apart  of  the  the  Sir  Edward  Hughes,  belonging 
money  payable  by  the  U.  S.  to  Great  to  the  East  India  Company. 


1803-1804  155 

Swain  Master,  a  Seaman  named  Thomas  Cook,  a  Citizen  of  the 
States,  born  at  Shrewsbury  in  New  Jersey,  or  near  that  place. 
He  is  well  known  here  as  a  real  American  Citizen,  and  I  will 
thank  you  to  order  him  to  be  discharged. 


TO  LIEUT.  GENEBAL  HUNTER.1 

New  York  2d  Decr  1803. 
SIR. 

Jerome  Bonaparte,  brother  of  the  first  Consul  has  been  some 
months  in  these  States,  particularly  in  Maryland.  He  arrived 
at  New  York  about  the  20th  Ult°  and  left  it  the  day  before  yes 
terday  professedly  to  return  to  the  Southward.  I  have  how 
ever  been  informed  that  it  is  his  intention  after  passing  a  few 
days  in  New  Jersey,  privately  to  go  to  Albany,  and  to  com 
municate  with  the  French  in  Canada;  it  is  also  suggested  that 
he  may  probably  go  to  the  American  Line  near  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  where  a  french  man  named  Rous  lives,  and  who  is  no 
torious  for  aiding  and  harbouring  British  Deserters  from  Can 
ada.  MacLean  who  some  years  since  was  executed  in  Canada 
was  particularly  intimate  with  Rous.  I  have  given  you  this 
information  to  ennable  you  to  keep  an  attentive  Eye  on  the 
Southern  limits  of  Canada.  The  information  comes  from 
a  Gentleman ;  who  I  am  confident  believes  it,  yet  I  confess  I 
have  my  Doubts.  Should  I  learn  that  he  has  really  proceeded 
Southward,  you  shall  have  the  earliest  notice  j  on  the  other 
hand,  if  he  arrives  at  Albany  you  will  have  advice  from 
thence. 

TO   MR.  MERRY. 

New  York  9th  Decr  1803. 
SIR 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  by  this  days 
mail  of  your  Letter  N°  2  dated  the  5th  Current,  enclosing  a  bill 

1  Peter  Hunter,  born  in  Scotland,  1746 ;  died  at  Quebec  in  1805.    He  was 
Commander  of  the  Forces  in  Canada. 


156        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

at  sight  dated  3d  December  1803  for  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
eight  thousand  dollars  drawn  by  Th  T  Tucker  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States  on  Jonathan  Burrell  Esqr  cashier  office  Dis 
count  and  Deposit  New  York  payable  to  your  order,  and  by 
your  endorsement  made  payable  to  me.1  I  have  presented  the 
Bill  for  payment,  and  the  Cashier  is  ready  to  make  it  in  the 
current  Money  of  the  United  States,  whenever  I  may  apply 
for  it.  He  assures  me  however  that  it  will  not  be  in  his  power 
to  convenience  me  with  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  or 
at  the  utmost  five  hundred  thousand  Dollars.  The  remainder 
must  be  in  British  and  Portugal  —  or  French  and  Spanish 
Gold  by  weight.  At  present  Spanish  milled  Dollars  bear  a 
premium  of  one  and  one  half  percent,  but  admitting  that  I 
was  authorized  to  pay  the  same,  I  am  satisfied  that  four  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  could  not  be  procured  from  Philadel 
phia  to  Boston  at  that  advance,  and  that  the  instant  it  was 
known  the  premium  would  rise  to  two  and  one  half  percent. — 
The  obtaining  of  Dollars  therefore  to  the  Northward  of  the 
Chesepeak,  other  than  from  the  Bank  is  out  of  the  question. — 
I  have  communicated  not  only  to  Mr  Burrell  the  Cashier  but 
also  to  Mr  Ray  the  President  my  disappointment  in  the  infor 
mation  that  the  amount  of  the  Bill  could  not  be  paid  in  Span 
ish  milled  Dollars,  and  I  learn  from  them  that  they  have  not 
received  any  orders  or  directions,  mediately  or  immediately 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  this  Subject.  I  sus 
pect  an  order,  or  strongly  worded  request  from  Mr  Gallatin, 
would  effect  the  purpose  of  a  payment  of  the  whole  in  Dollars. 
— I  shall  therefore  wait  your  further  instructions.  The  money 
when  received  shall  be  paid  over  as  you  have  directed,  towit 
four  hundred  and  forty  four  thousand  Dollars  to  Captain 
Cockburn  and  the  remaining  four  hundred  and  forty  four 
thousand  dollars  to  the  Captain  who  may  arrive  here  duly  au 
thorized  to  receive  it. —  Equal  attention  Sir  shall  be  paid  to 
every  other  part  of  the  directions  contained  in  your  letter. — 

1  This  was  the  first  instalment  of  which  fixed  the  indemnity  for  the 

the  £600, 000  payable  by  the  U.  S.  to  debts  due  to  British  subjects  they 

Great  Britain  under  Eufus   King's  had  been  prevented  from  collecting 

Convention    of    January    8,    1802,  in  consequence  of  the  Revolution. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  157 

The  Cashier  of  the  Bank  acquaints  me  that,  I  may  tell  the 
money  out  at  my  leisure,  and  that  it  may  from  day  to  day  be 
redeposited  in  the  Vaults  of  the  Bank,  the  Boxes  under  my 
Seal,  but  that  all  sums  told  and  so  deposited  must  be  at  the 
risque  of  His  Majesty.  This  I  think  but  reasonable,  I  how 
ever  wish  your  opinion  thereon. 


TO  DE  WITT   CLINTON. 

New  York  29th  Decr  1803. 
SlE. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
yesterday  respecting  the  Seamen  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Phaeton 
George  Cockburn  Esqr  Commander  now  confined  as  Vagrants 
in  the  Bridewell  of  this  City,  together  with  the  determination 
of  the  Justices  of  the  Police  on  the  subject  of  their  being  de 
livered  up  to  Captain  Cockburn  —  There  would  be  an  end  to 
all  subordination  in  His  Majestys  Navy  if  Captains  were  com 
pelled  to  come  to  such  terms  as  are  proposed  by  the  Justices 
of  Police,  as  a  preliminary  promise  before  the  Seamen  can  be 
delivered  ;  but  this  much  Sir  I  can  assure  both  you  and  them 
that  Captain  Cockburn  will  not  bring  the  men  to  a  general 
Court  Martial,  or  have  them  severely  punished  on  board  his 
Ship.  I  trust  therefore  as  the  Men  are  willing  to  join  their 
Ship,  that  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  will  order  them  to  be  de 
livered  to  Captain  Cockburns  order. 


TO   WILLIAM   BRAMSTON,  CANTON,  CHINA. 

New  York  27  April  1804. 
SIR. 

Mr  Waters  late  Purser  in  the  India  Companys  Ship  Britan 
nia,  but  now  of  the  Sir  Edward  Hughes,  arrived  here  in  De 
cember  last  to  take  money  on  board  for  Calcutta  —  On  my 
complaint  to  him  that  the  Teas  in  America  were  of  very  infe 
rior  quality,  he  tendered  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  you, 


158       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

assuring  me  that  you  would  have  the  goodness  to  send  the 
best  to  be  purchased  at  Canton  —  The  letter  from  him  I  take 
the  Liberty  to  inclose,  and  Mr  Isaac  Bell  who  goes  from  hence 
in  the  Ship  Triton  as  Super  Cargo  will  deliver  to  you  two 
hundred  and  fifty  Spanish  Dollars  —  Will  you  do  me  the 
favor  to  apply  one  hundred  or  near  that  amount  in  the  pur 
chase  of  a  set  of  table  china,  a  list  of  which  is  inclosed  —  The 
remainder  lay  out  in  equal  quantities  of  black  and  Green  Teas 
of  the  first  quality  to  be  purchased  —  I  must  give  you  the  ad 
ditional  trouble  to  in  treat  that  a  proportion  of  the  black  and 
green  tea  to  the  value  of  fifty  dollars  may  be  put  up  in  sepa 
rate  Boxes,  being  for  an  old  Lady  my  particular  friend,  the  re 
mainder  for  my  use  —  Should  the  China  or  tea  amount  to  a 
few  dollars  more,  Mr  Bell  has  my  orders  to  pay  it  to  you. — Mr 
Bell  is  a  worthy  honorable  American  Gentleman,  any  atten 
tion  you  may  have  it  in  your  power  to  shew  him  will  be  doing 
me  a  favor.— 

If  I  can  render  you  any  Service  here  it  will  afford  me  plea 
sure  —  I  trust  you  will  pardon  the  Liberty  I  have  taken. 


TO   ME.  MEEEY. 

New  York  12th  May  1804. 
SIR, 

Captain  Douglass  of  His  Majesty s  Ship  Boston  left  this  the 
day  before  yesterday  at  noon,  to  go  on  board  his  Ship  at  the 
Hook  and  proceed  to  Norfolk  in  Virginia.  I  this  day  received 
a  letter  from  the  President  of  the  marine  insurance  Company 
in  this  City,  stating  a  French  Cruizer  being  off  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina,  committing  depredations  on  British  and 
American  ships.  Of  this  I  have  notified  Capt.  Douglass.  At 
the  same  time  I  was  informed  of  another  French  Privateer 
being  on  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  —  By  a  vessel  going  to 
Halifax  I  shall  communicate  the  above  to  Vice  Admiral  Sir 
Andrew  Mitchell.1 

i  See  letter  to  Mr.  Neilson,  September  7,  1804,  below. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  159 

TO   MK.   MERRY. 

New  York  25  May  1804. 
SIR, 

The  Sybille  and  Dido  French  Frigates  of  44  Guns  each  ar 
rived  here  last  Evening  from  Guadeloupe  and  anchored  at  the 
Quarantine  Ground  about  nine  miles  below  the  city  —  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  learn  their  Business,  probable  stay  or  fu 
ture  destination.  The  moment  I  am  possessed  of  either  you 
shall  receive  information  — 

I  have  dispatched  a  letter  to  Boston,  to  be  from  thence  for 
warded  to  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  at  Halifax,  and  will  endeavour 
to  hasten  the  sailing  of  a  vessel  for  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick  • 
but  both  these  are  circuitous  routs. —  It  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  I  am  neither  authorized  by  Lord  Hawkesbury,  or  Sir  An 
drew  Mitchell  to  hire  a  dispatch  boat  on  such  occasions.  Per 
haps  your  Excellency  may  think  it  proper  to  direct  me  to  in 
cur  the  expence  on  future  occasions  of  moment. 


TO   MR.   MERRY. 

New  York  1st  June  1804. 
SIR. 

In  answer  to  your  letter  N°  12  of  the  28th  of  May,  permit  to 
observe  that  I  cannot  learn  that  the  Commander  of  the  two 
French  Frigates  now  in  this  Port,  had  any  particular  object 
communicated  to  him  for  coming  here :  although  I  think  it 
probable  he  had  either  dispatches  for  Mr  Pichon,  or  directions 
to  receive  orders  from  him.  I  procured  a  sensible  young 
Gentleman  to  get  acquainted  with  the  Officers  of  these  Ships, 
by  taking  his  lodgings  in  the  same  hotel  where  they  staid  — 
From  them  he  obtained  the  following  particulars.  That  thB 
Dido  and  Sybille  Frigates  had  laid  some  time  in  Eockfort 
ready  for  Sea  before  an  opportunity  offered  to  escape  the  vigi 
lance  of  our  Cruizers  —  That  they  at  length  escaped,  each 
ship  having  350  Soldiers  on  board  besides  Seamen  &  Marines, 
also  about  40  French  men  apprehended  by  order  of  the  first 


160        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Consul  and  privately  put  on  board.  Amongst  these  were 
three  Generals,  and  other  Officers  of  various  Ranks,  and  a 
number  of  editors  of  newspapers.  These  were  landed  at 
Cayenne  as  exiles  —  The  Frigates  then  proceeded  to  Guade 
loupe  where  about  one-half  of  the  land  forces  were  disembarked, 
and  the  remainder  put  on  board  Privateers  and  sent  to  Mar- 
tinico  to  reinforce  that  Garrison.  The  Ships  immediately 
overhauled  their  Rigging,  took  in  their  water  &c.  &c  and  pre 
pared  with  all  haste  apparently  to  return  to  France  —  That 
the  officer  Commanding  gave  passages  to  upwards  of  a  dozen 
Gentlemen  of  Guadeloupe  to  go  home  in  one  or  other  of  the 
Frigates.  Having  sealed  orders  on  board  to  be  opened  on  ar 
riving  in  a  certain  Latitude,  it  was  found  on  opening  them, 
that  the  Ships  were  to  repair  to  New  York  for  further  orders, 
but  what  those  orders  are  I  cannot  learn.  The  Commanding 
officer  on  his  arrival  proceeded  to  the  Southward  and  as  I  sup 
pose  to  Washington  —  he  is  not  yet  returned.  It  is  said  their 
stay  will  be  short,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  Bonaparte  and 
his  Lady  will  embark  on  board  one  of  them.1  The  Winds  for 
the  last  ten  days  have  been  unfavorable  for  the  Vessels  carry 
ing  my  letters  to  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  —  I  however  hope  he 
will  receive  them  in  a  day  or  two.  The  Frigates  are  very  fine 
large  Ships,  particularly  the  Dido  —  They  have  fifteen  ports 
on  each  Side,  carry  18  pounders  on  the  Main,  and  it  is  said  18lb 
Carronades  on  their  fore  castle  and  Quarter  Deck,  in  my 
opinion  their  Carronades  must  be  heavier.  The  officers  com 
plain  of  their  Men  not  being  expert  Seamen,  but  the  Pilot  who 
brought  up  the  Dido,  assures  me  they  are  better  than  french 
Seamen  ordinarily  are,  and  that  both  Ships  were  worked  up 
in  a  handsome  seaman  like  manner. 

It  is  not  General  Ney,  but  General  Re}7  who  has  arrived  here 
as  Consul  General.  He  is  a  native  of  Brittany,  and  com 
manded  at  Rennes  —  Was  universally  disliked  both  by  the 
Civil  and  Military  where  ever  he  had  a  command  —  He  is  rep 
resented  to  me,  by  a  person  who  knows  him  well,  as  a  man 
of  a  ferocious  disposition,  violent  temper,  imperious  manner, 
and  much  addicted  to  Liquor  —  He  has  brought  his  Wife,  and 
1  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  Miss  Patterson  were  married  December  24,  1803. 


1803-1804  161 

two  or  three  Children  with  him  and  the  opinion  of  the  French 
here  is  that  the  first  Consul  gave  him  this  appointment  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  him. —  He  springs  from  the  Dregs  of  the  nation.1 
His  Chancellor  is  said  to  be  a  Gentleman  of  honor,  abilities 
and  amiable  manners,  who  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  Civil 
Tribunals  in  St.  Domingo,  and  his  Secretary  is  represented 
in  equally  favorable  colors. 


TO   MB.   MERRY. 

New  York  5th  June  1804. 
SIR, 

It  is  generally  believed  as  you  will  observe  it  stated  in  the 
Gazette  of  this  day  that  the  Dido  and  Sybile  French  Frigates 
are  on  the  point  of  Sailing,  their  destination  unknown,  tho 
supposed  to  be  for  some  part  in  France.  I  have  some  reason 
however  to  doubt  their  leaving  this  place  so  immediately,  or  if 
they  should  it  will  be  only  for  a  cruize  because  the  provisions 
ordered  by  the  Agent  for  those  ships  were  not  delivered  last 
Evening — You  will  also  perceive  a  statement  in  this  days 
paper  that  a  line  of  Battle  Ship  supposed  to  be  the  Leander  2 
has  been  seen  off  and  on  this  port,  I  learn  this  report  has  been 
circulated  in  order  to  detain  the  Frigates  a  few  days,  while 
a  Ship  bound  on  a  Contraband  Trade  to  S*  Domingo  made  her 
escape  from  hence.  From  the  Set  of  the  Winds  since  I  first 

1  Antoine  Gabriel  Venance  Rey  unfavorable  to  the  Revolution  of  the 

was  born  September  22,  1768.     He  18th  Brumaire,  and  so  fell  into  dis- 

entered  the  French  army  as  a  private  grace,  left  the  army,  and  accepted 

in  a  cavalry  regiment  some  years  be-  the  post  of  Consul -General  to  the 

fore  the  Revolution,  obtained  a  com-  United    States.      He    returned    to 

mission  in  1791,  rose  to  the  rank  of  France   about  1808,  reentered   the 

General  of  Brigade  in  1793,  and  after  army,  served  in  Spain  with  some 

sharing  in  the  defense  of  Mayence  credit,  and  died  in  1836. 

and  displaying  the  greatest  vigor  2  Although  the  Leander  played  an 

against  the  Vendeans,  was  made  a  important  part  in  the  battle  of  the 

General  of  Division.  He  subsequently  Nile,  she  was  not,  strictly  speaking, 

commanded  in  Italy,  where  he  was  a  line-of -battle  ship.    She  was  rated 

accused  of  peculation,  but  was  ac-  at  50  guns, 
quitted  by  a  court  martial.    He  was 
11 


162  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

wrote  to  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  of  the  arrival  of  these  Ships,  it 
is  improbable  that  the  Letters  have  more  than  reached  Halifax 
and  impossible  he  could  have  sailed  from  thence  and  arrived 
off  this  Port. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  15th  June  1804. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  yon  that  the  Dido  and  Sybile 
French  Frigates  are  still  in  this  Port,  alth°  I  suspect  they  are 
on  the  point  of  sailing  for  France. 

Jerome  Bonaparte  and  his  Lady  arrived  a  few  days  since 
from  Baltimore  and  avow  their  design  of  going  in  one  of  them 
probably  the  Dido  as  she  is  the  best  Ship  and  infinitely  the 
fastest.  I  have  done  every  thing  in  my  power  to  prevent  their 
sailing,  by  circulating  Reports  that  Ships  of  your  Squadron 
had  been  seen  off  in  different  directions ;  and  causing  persons 
living  on  the  South  side  of  Long  Island  to  say  that  two  Men 
of  War  generally  stood  in  every  Night  and  soon  after  day 
light  hauled  off  again.  They  certainly  are  much  alarmed,  and 
as  you  will  see  by  the  paper  inclosed  have  now  two  pilot  Boats 
out  to  ascertain  the  truth.  They  have  lost  a  number,  upwards 
of  forty  of  their  men  by  desertion,  and  I  understand  the  Crews 
are  composed  of  men  of  almost  every  Nation  —  I  was  told  yes 
terday  by  a  Person  who  had  it  from  the  pilot,  that  the  Crews 
were  not  only  sickly,  but  that  many  within  the  last  week  had 
been  taken  111  of  the  small  Pox.  Should  this  be  the  Case,  I 
doubt  their  being  able  to  go  to  Sea,  until  they  are  recovered  — 
Their  Ships  are  very  dirty  and  officers  and  Men  under  great 
fear  of  meeting  our  Men  of  War. 

TO   MR.   MERRY. 

New  York  18th  June  1804. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  you  that  His  Majestys  Ships 
Cambrian  and  Driver  arrived  at  Staten  Island  late  in  the  af- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  163 

ternoon  of  Saturday  last  — Yesterday  I  saw  Captain  Bradley 
the  officer  commanding,  who  informed  me  he  was  under  orders 
to  proceed  to  sea  the  first  fair  wind. —  I  received  late  last 
Evening  a  letter  from  the  Mayor  of  this  City,  a  copy  whereof 
I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  you,  requesting  me  to  detain  the 
Cambrian  and  Driver  for  twenty  four  hours  after  the  depar 
ture  of  the  two  French  Frigates  now  in  this  Port  and  who  are 
ready  for  Sea. —  I  have  sent  Captain  Bradley  a  copy  of  this 
Mayors  letter,  but  I  apprehend  he  will  not  feel  himself  author 
ized  to  remain  here  a  moment  after  it  is  practicable  for  his 
Ship  to  go  out  of  the  Hook ;  Vice  Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Mit 
chell  having  directed  him  to  leave  this  port  the  first  fair  Wind, 
and  to  cruise  on  this  coast  for  the  protection  of  the  Merchants 
Ships  belonging  to  His  Majestys  Subjects.  I  wait  your  direc 
tions  with  respect  to  the  answer  I  am  to  send  to  the  Mayor. 


TO   DE   WITT   CLINTON. 

New  York  18th  June  1804. 
SlE, 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  Letter 
of  last  Evening,  informing  me  that  you  had  received  official 
notice  that  the  Frigates  Didon  and  Cybele  belonging  to  the 
french  Republic,  and  which  arrived  in  this  port  the  4th  Instant 
intended  to  Sail  with  the  first  fair  Wind  and  requesting  me  to 
detain  His  Majestys  Ships  Cambrian  and  Sloop  of  War  Driver, 
now  also  in  this  port  for  the  space  of  twenty  four  hours  after 
the  departure  of  the  French  Frigates.  By  this  days  post  I 
shall  forward  copy  of  your  Letter  to  Mr  Merry  His  Majesty's 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  these 
States,  and  who  is  now  at  Philadelphia,  and  will  on  the  receipt 
of  his  answer  immediately  communicate  to  you  his  directions 
on  the  Subject.  I  am.  however  apprehensive  that  Captain 
Bradley  the  Officer  commanding  His  Majesty's  Ship  of  War 
will  not  feel  himself  authorized  to  comply  with  any  requisition 
either  from  Mr  Merry  or  myself  respecting  his  remaining  a 
moment  in  this  port  after  the  Wind  will  admit  of  his  depar- 


164        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ture,  because  his  Orders  from  Vice  Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Mit 
chell  direct  him  to  proceed  from  here  on  the  delivery  of  his 
Dispatches,  on  a  cruize  for  the  protection  of  the  trade  not  only 
of  his  Majesty's  Subjects,  but  of  that  of  the  people  of  these 
States,  and  which  has  lately  suffered  much  from  the  depreda 
tions  of  several  French  Privateers  on  this  Coast.  I  am  led  to 
believe  the  Admiral  was  induced  to  send  these  Ships  for  the 
above  purpose,  in  consequence  of  my  having  transmitted  to 
him  the  copy  of  a  Letter  which  I  lately  received  from  the 
President  of  the  Marine  Insurance  Company  in  this  City  stat 
ing  the  Injury  the  American  Commerce  had  sustained  from 
the  predatory  Corsairs ;  and  requesting  that  measures  might 
be  taken  to  protect  the  American  as  well  as  British  Commerce 
from  farther  Loss.1  You  will  from  this  Statement  naturally 
perceive  the  urgent  necessity  Captain  Bradley  is  under  to  get 
from  hence  the  moment  the  Pilot  will  undertake  to  carry  his 
Ship  down  and  as  Captain  Bradley  had  communicated  his  in 
tentions  to  me,  prior  to  the  receipt  of  your  Letter,  I  am  of 
opinion  he  is  entitled  to  a  preference  in  point  of  time  as  to  his 
departure.  The  French  Frigates  can  avail  themselves  of  the 
first  fair  Wind  after  the  sailing  of  His  Majesty's  Ships.  I  am 
perfectly  Sensible  of  the  delicacy  of  your  situation  and  that 
of  the  United  States,  when  Ships  of  War  of  contending  Na 
tions  enter  your  friendly  Ports ;  and  it  will  at  all  times  afford 
me  pleasure  to  lessen  as  much  as  lays  in  my  power  and  the 
good  of  His  Majesty's  Service  will  permit,  any  embarrassments 
there  may  occur  by  the  Ships  of  War  of  Great  Britain  and 
France  lying  at  the  same  time  in  this  Port. 

TO    ME.    MERRY. 

New  York  19th  June,  1804. 
SIR. 

His  Majesty s  Ship  Boston  arrived  yesterday  afternoon  at 
Sandy  Hook —  In  consequence  of  Captain  Bradleys  answer  to 

1  An  extract  from  this  letter  hav-  the  insurance  company,  wrote  to  Col- 
ing  been  published  in  the  newspa-  onel  Barclay  contradicting  the  as- 
pers,  Mr.  Neilson,  the  president  of  sertion  that  protection  to  American 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  165 

me  on  the  subject  of  the  Mayors  requisition  that  His  Majestys 
Frigates  might  be  detained  in  this  port  for  the  Space  of  twenty 
four  hours  after  the  sailing  of  the  French  Frigates  with  the 
first  fair  Wind,  that  he  could  not  comply  being  under  orders 
to  go  to  Sea  immediately  —  The  Wardens  of  the  Port  have  is 
sued  an  inhibition  to  the  Pilots  to  carry  out  either  of  His 
Majestys  Ships,  a  copy  of  this  order  I  have  the  Honor  to  in 
close — I  have  to  intreat  you  will  give  me  your  advice  and 
directions  on  this  point. 


TO   CAPTAIN   BBADLEY,  H.  M.  S.  CAMBEIAN. 

New  York  19th  June  1804. 
SIR. 

The  inclosed  letter  of  complaint  has  this  moment  been  deliv 
ered  to  me  —  You  will  observe  that  the  Mayor  considers  your 
boarding  the  Ship  Pitt  and  impressing  from  on  board  that  Ves 
sel  18  Men,  as  an  act  of  illegal  violence  committed  within  the 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.1  He  also  complains  of  the 
officers  of  your  ship  having  obstructed  the  Lieutenant  of  the 
Revenue  Cutter  and  the  Health  Physician  from  doing  their 
duty ;  and  adds  that  he  has  transmitted  a  statement  of  facts 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  order  that  they 
may  take  the  necessary  measures. —  I  consider  it  necessary 
that  you  and  the  officers  of  your  ship  make  a  candid  represen 
tation  of  the  transaction  in  order  that  I  may  lay  the  same  be 
fore  His  Majestys  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  these  States, 
who  naturally  will  receive  a  letter  of  complaint  from  the 
American  Secretary  of  State. — 

I  am  of  opinion  that  you  ought  not  to  have  boarded  the  Ship 
or  impressed  any  men  out  of  her. —  Having  said  this  it  follows 

commerce  had  been  asked.    Barclay  *  The  Pitt  was  a  British  vessel, 

admitted  his  mistake  (see  letter  of  and  was  boarded  and  searched  in 

Sept.  7,  1804,  below),  but  the  errone-  the  lower  bay  by  boats  from  the 

ous  assertion  has  been  perpetuated  Cambrian.     The  details  of  this  no- 

to  this  day.  McMaster's  Hist,  of  the  torious  affair  fully  appear  below. 
U.  S.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  246. 

11A 


166        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

that  the  men  should  be  restored.  What  renders  this  measure 
the  more  necessary  is  that  the  Quarantine  Officer  will  not  de 
liver  the  Ship  Pitt  to  the  Captain  until  he  musters  on  board  of 
her  all  the  men  who  navigated  that  Vessel. —  For  your  security 
and  my  own  satisfaction  I  have  taken  the  opinion  of  a  very 
able  law  character  in  this  City,  well  attached  to  our  Govern 
ment,  who  agrees  in  sentiment  with  me. —  The  Language  made 
use  of  by  some  of  your  officers  to  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Reve 
nue  Cutter  was  to  say  the  least  highly  indecorous  —  Captain 
Campbell  of  the  Ship  Pitt  will  deliver  you  this  letter,  my 
advice  to  you  is  that  the  men  are  delivered  up  to  him. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  22d  June  1804. 

SIR. 

His  Majesty s  Ships  Cambrian  and  Driver  arrived  in  this 
port  on  this  day  week,  and  Captain  Bradley  unfortunately 
came  up  to  Staten  Island  very  near  to  the  French  Frigates 
before  I  knew  of  his  arrival.  Early  on  the  following  morning 
I  went  on  board  the  Cambrian,  and  recommended  his  dropping 
down  and  coming  to  an  anchor  without  the  Bar  and  beyond 
the  Jurisdiction  of  these  States,  being  apprehensive  attempts 
would  be  made  to  detain  His  Majestys  Ships  until  the  de 
parture  of  the  French.  The  Wind  at  the  time  was  so  much  a 
head  that  the  Pilots  declined  taking  charge  of  them.  On  my 
return  that  evening  to  town  I  received  an  application  from  the 
Mayor  of  this  City  requesting  the  detention  of  the  Cambrian 
and  Driver  for  twenty  four  hours  after  the  sailing  of  the 
French  Frigates ;  provided  they  departed  with  the  first  fair 
Wind.  In  reply  I  informed  him  that  I  would  lay  his  request 
before  Mr  Merry  his  Majestys  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and 
wait  his  directions,  and  added  that  I  was  apprehensive  Captain 
Bradley,  to  whom  I  should  transmit  a  copy  of  his,  the  Mayors, 
letter  j  would  not  feel  himself  authorized  to  comply  with  the 
request,  having  your  orders  to  proceed  to  Sea,  on  the  delivery 
of  your  dispatches.  On  Monday  the  Pilots  received  by  order 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  167 

of  the  Mayor  an  injunction  from  the  Port  Wardens  a  copy 
whereof  I  now  inclose  —  On  that  day  also  Captain  Douglass 
arrived  at  Sandy  Hook  with  His  Majesty s  Ship  Boston,  and 
the  next  morning  the  Cambrian  and  Driver  altho'  the  Wind 
was  a  head  went  down  and  anchored  near  the  Boston.  The 
French  Frigates  had  unmoored  in  the  hope  that  a  want  of 
Pilots  would  prevent  His  Majesty  s  Ship  from  getting  to  Sea, 
but  when  they  perceived  them  in  motion  they  desisted,  and 
about  noon  came  up  nearer  to  this  City  where  they  now  lay. — 
It  is  suspected  they  will  attempt  a  passage  through  Hell 
Gate  and  the  Sound.  But  I  cannot  yield  to  this  opinion  from 
the  many  difficulties  attending  it,  and  from  the  certainty  that 
our  Ships  will  always  have  ample  time  to  meet  them  to  the 
Eastward.  Their  only  chance  would  be  to  go  to  Newport 
Rhode  Island,  and  thence  wait  a  favorable  moment. —  Bona 
parte  had  embarked  with  his  Lady  and  baggage  on  board  the 
Didon,  and  both  the  Ships  would  have  gone  to  sea  the  first 
Wind,  had  not  the  Cambrian  and  Driver  arrived.  Such  how 
ever  were  the  apprehensions  of  the  french,  that  for  several 
days  preceding  they  had  officers  in  two  Pilot  Boats  to  the 
Eastward  and  Southward  of  the  Hook  on  the  lookout. —  If 
you  should  resolve  to  watch  their  motions,  I  fear  it  will  prove 
a  tedious  blockade.  They  never  will  stir  while  our  ships  are 
in  sight,  and  I  am  led  to  believe  the  French  Officers  are  not 
over  anxious  to  return  to  France.  Their  Agent  pleasantly  re 
marked  a  day  or  two  since  that  he  would  recommend  their 
being  laid  up,  and  providing  quarters  for  the  Men  during  the 
succeeding  Winter. —  I  have  strongly  urged  Captain  Bradley 
to  remove  from  Sandy  Hook  Bay  his  present  situation,  with 
out  the  Bar  and  at  least  a  league  from  the  Shore,  to  prevent 
future  complaints  of  a  violation  of  neutral  rights. —  This  re 
mark  leads  me  to  a  painful  and  serious  subject,  on  the  Even 
ing  of  Sunday  the  17th  Instant  the  British  Ship  Pitt  from 
Greenoch  arrived  at  Staten  Island,  which  is  the  quarantine 
Ground  —  On  her  approach  she  was  boarded  by  the  Cambri 
ans  Boats,  brought  to  an  anchor  and  fourteen  Men  impressed 
from  her.  While  the  Cambrians  Boats  were  thus  employed 
the  officers  of  the  Revenue  and  Health  officer  came  alongside 


168       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

of  the  Pitt  to  examine  her,  but  they  were  prevented  by  the  of 
ficers  and  men  of  the  Cambrian. —  The  next  day  I  received  a 
letter  from  the  Mayor  on  the  subject,  a  copy  whereof  I  have 
the  Honor  to  inclose. —  You  will  perceive  he  has  transmitted  a 
copy  to  his  Government,  and  I  have  made  Mr  Merry  acquainted 
with  the  facts.  Captain  Bradley  assuredly  has  acted  impru 
dently —  It  was  my  wish  that  the  men  should  have  been  re 
stored,  in  which  event  every  other  matter  might  have  been  got 
over,  but  in  this  particular  he  declines  complying  with  my  ad 
vice.  The  consequence  is  that  the  Pitt  remains  at  the  Quar 
antine  Ground  because  the  Health  Officer  will  not  muster  the 
Ships  company  until  these  men  are  returned  or  give  a  certifi 
cate  to  entitle  her  to  an  entry.  On  the  first  of  July  an  addi 
tional  duty  of  2  l/2  per  Cent  takes  place,  to  which  the  cargo  of 
the  Pitt  will  be  liable  unless  entered  previous  to  that  day,  and 
I  fear  I  shall  not  hear  from  Mr  Merry  in  time  to  prevent  this 
inconvenience  and  expense. —  I  regret  these  untoward  circum 
stances,  particularly  as  the  accident  has  happened  to  a  char 
acter  attached  to  His  Majesty. — 


TO    MK.    MEEEY. 

New  York  23d  June  1804. 
SIR 

I  yesterday  received  a  letter  from  Mr  Thornton  dated  at 
Philadelphia  wherein  he  informs  me  of  his  having  received  at 
that  place  my  letters  Nos  14,  15  and  16  addressed  to  you,  that 
he  had  opened  them,  and  forwarded  them  to  you  at  Washing 
ton,  where  you  still  remain  owing  to  bad  weather  and  worse 
roads,  and  where  you  would  at  least  continue  until  the  begin 
ning  of  July. — 

With  this  I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  you  copies  of  Captain 
Bradleys  letters  to  me  of  the  20th  and  21st  current,  and  a  cer 
tificate  of  the  officers  of  His  Majesty s  Ship  Cambrian  who 
boarded  the  Ship  Pitt  on  Sunday  last  to  impress  men.  This 
certificate  is  intended  as  a  reply  to  the  affidavit  of  the  Lieuten 
ant  of  the  Revenue  Cutter,  who  has  deposed  that  some  of  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1803-1804  169 

officers  of  the  Cambrian,  cursed  him  and  damned  the  Revenue 
Laws. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  Captain  Bradley  brought  the  Cam 
brian  and  Driver  within  the  Jurisdiction  of  these  States,  and 
particularly  that  he  came  up  to  the  Quarantine  Ground  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  French  Frigates.  The  instant  I  was  ap 
prised  of  it,  I  went  down  and  begged  him  to  drop  without  the 
Hook  the  moment  the  Wind  would  allow  —  I  have  also  the 
Honor  to  inclose  you  a  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Mayor  in  an 
swer  to  his  letter  requesting  the  detention  of  His  Majesty s 
Ships  for  twenty  four  hours  after  the  departure  of  the  French 
Frigates,  provided  they  sailed  the  first  fair  Wind.  I  trust  you 
will  approve  of  what  I  have  done,  and  of  the  Ships  going 
down  to  the  Hook  notwithstanding  the  Mayors  letters  to  me, 
or  the  prohibition  of  the  Port  Wardens  to  the  Pilots.  His 
Majestys  ships  were  taken  down  by  their  own  officers  and  at  a 
very  great  risque. —  The  strong  measures  taken  by  the  Mayor 
are  I  consider  as  wholly  extra  official,  and  pertaining  only  to 
the  general  executive  Government  of  these  States  ;  and  I  am 
also  of  opinion  that  as  Captain  Bradley  had  signified  his  in 
tention  of  departing  to  me,  many  hours  before  I  received  the 
letter  of  requisition  from  the  Mayor,  that  he  was  entitled  to  a 
preference  in  point  of  departure  to  the  French  Frigates.  Had 
the  French  Ships  by  accident  got  under  way  and  passed  the 
Cambrian  and  Driver  I  should  have  held  it  an  infraction  of  the 
laws  of  neutrality  for  our  Ships  to  have  followed  them,  and 
had  strongly  impressed  this  on  the  mind  of  Captain  Brad 
ley. —  The  British  Ships  are  at  anchor  within  the  Hook,  the 
French  as  near  this  as  the  Laws  will  permit.  I  have  point 
edly  recommended  to  Captain  Bradley  his  going  without  the 
Jurisdiction  of  these  States,  and  hope  whenever  wind  and 
weather  will  permit  that  he  will  do  it  — 

It  is  with  pain  that  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  informing 
you  that  he  declines  complying  with  my  advice  to  return  the 
impressed  men.  By  the  Laws  of  these  States  the  officers  of 
the  Customs  cannot  enter  a  ship,  until  she  is  regularly  in 
spected  by  the  health  officer  and  has  a  certificate.  The  health 
officers  refuse  to  examine  the  Ship  until  all  the  persons  are  on 


170        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

board  who  came  in  her.  She  therefore  remains  at  the  Quar 
antine  Ground,  and  must  continue  there,  until  either  Captain 
Bradley  returns  the  men,  or  you  obtain  an  order  from  the 
American  Government  for  the  Ship  Pitt  being  admitted  to  an 
entry  —  You  will  perceive  that  one  of  the  two  ought  to  be 
done  without  loss  of  time,  because  in  addition  to  every  other 
inconvenience  and  expense  attending  demurrage,  the  preva 
lence  of  the  yellow  fever  before  the  departure  of  the  Pitt 
might  prove  a  very  serious  obstruction  to  her  return  to 
Greenoch.  I  shall  address  my  letters  to  you  until  further 
order  to  Washington. 


TO   CAPTAIN   BRADLEY. 

New  York  23d  June  1804. 

I  received  the  inclosed  Letter  from  Philadelphia  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  inclose  you.  It  comes  from  a  Gentleman 
on  whom  every  dependance  can  be  placed,  and  may  operate  as 
a  clue  to  useful  discoveries,  because  it  is  probable  Jerome  Bo 
naparte  will  carry  with  him  dispatches  from  the  french  Min 
ister,  all  his  own  private  correspondence  his  Journals  and  re 
marks.  I  have  reason  to  believe  his  being  made  a  prisoner  by 
the  Officers  of  His  Majesty's  Navy  would  be  considered  an 
agreeable  circumstance  by  the  Government.  Should  any 
Vessel  proceed  without  documents  from  me  you  may  rest 
assured  there  is  great  cause  for  particular  search  and  almost 
a  certainty  of  his  being  on  board.  The  Trunk  so  particularly 
described  in  the  Letter  inclosed  may  be  deep  in  the  hold  or 
else  where  concealed,  but  the  mulatto  Boy  and  Baboon  are 
sure  prognostics  by  which  you  may  know  his  being  on  board. 
You  will  recollect  his  Lady  goes  with  him,  I  should  be  sorry 
he  escaped  us,  and  I  know  their  utmost  cunning  will  be  ex 
erted  to  do  this. —  On  Monday  I  hope  it  will  be  in  my  power 
to  give  you  additional  Marks  by  which  you  may  develop  this 
man.  I  think  I  shall  have  knowledge  of  every  motion  he 
makes.  The  marshall  of  the  District  court  called  on  me 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  171 

about  two  O  Clock  P.  M.  this  day  and  told  me  he  had  process 
against  one  of  your  Officers  —  I  advised  him  to  be  cautious 
how  he  approached  your  Ship,  and  after  some  further  Conver 
sation  I  promised  him  a  letter  to  you,  which  letter  I  inclosed 
to  Captain  Douglass  and  desired  him  to  take  it  on  board  the 
Boston,  and  let  Captain  Douglass  communicate  the  purport  of 
his  Business  to  you  —  I  have  this  moment  had  my  letters  re 
turned  as  he  declined  going  to  the  Boston  before  he  ap 
proached  your  Ship,  and  he  is  gone  down  —  I  hope  Nothing 
unpleasant  may  occur,  because  I  am  certain  he  means  well, 
and  to  offer  no  Insult. —  The  sooner  you  get  beyond  the  Ju 
risdiction  of  these  States  by  anchoring  more  than  a  League 
from  the  Hook,  the  better,  but  while  you  remain  where  I  left 
you,  every  day  will  produce  some  unpleasant  circumstance. 
It  is  hinted  to  me  that  the  French  Frigates  intend  attempting 
their  way  through  Hell  Gate  and  the  Sound.  If  they  do  you 
shall  have  early  Notice,  and  your  laying  over  the  Bar  will  en 
able  you  always  to  go  to  Sea.  The  attempt  to  Serve  process 
on  your  officers  through  the  Marshall  of  the  District  Court,  is 
ample  proof  of  the  intention  of  the  Mayor  and  other  officers 
of  the  Government  in  this  City. —  It  is  a  measure  I  trust 
which  will  meet  the  disapprobation  of  the  American  Govern 
ment. —  Let  me  beg  you  to  admit  no  one  alongside  of  your 
Ship,  but  he  who  has  a  letter  from  me,  and  then  not  until  you 
have  first  read  the  Letter.  When  the  Boats  also  come  down 
with  your  Beef  or  Water,  have  them  examined  before  they  are 
permitted  alongside  of  your  Ship,  too  much  caution  cannot  be 
used.  I  should  not  after  your  determination  again  touch  on 
the  Subject  of  the  Seamen  impressed  from  the  Pitt,  did  I  not 
apprehend  that  you  are  ignorant  that  on  the  first  of  July  an 
additional  duty  of  two  and  an  half  per  Cent  will  attach  on  all 
Merchandize  entered  at  the  Customs  in  this  City. —  This  the 
Freighters  of  the  Pitt  will  have  to  pay,  unless  she  is  entered 
before  that  day  —  The  more  I  reflect  on  the  measures  of  Sun 
day  last  respecting  the  Pitt,  the  more  I  am  confirmed  in  my 
opinion  already  expressed  to  you  by  Letter,  that  Prudence 
and  Propriety  dictate  your  restoring  the  men. — M1'  Merry 
has  been  prevented  leaving  Washington,  to  this  circumstance 


172        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

the  not  having  answers  to  my  Letters  is  to  be  attributed  — 
To  morrow  I  shall  certainly  hear  from  him. 


TO   MR.   MEKRY. 

New  York,  28th  June  1804. 
SIE. 

I  have  not  yet  had  the  Satisfaction  to  receive  an  answer 
from  you  to  my  Letters.  I  attribute  this  to  the  State  of  the 
roads  and  Bridges  rendered  by  the  late  violent  rains  as  I  am 
informed  impassable. 

By  a  Clause  in  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  a  Penalty  of 
four  hundred  Dollars  is  laid  on  any  person  who  shall  be  con 
victed  of  obstructing  the  officers  of  the  Revenue  in  their  duty. 
Under  this  Act  the  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  State  of  New  York,  has  granted  a  warrant  or 
attachment  against  Lieu*  Pigot  of  His  Majesty's  Ship  Cam 
brian,  and  the  Marshal  went  down  on  Saturday  last  to  serve 
it.  Captain  Bradley  received  the  Marshal,  but  the  process 
was  not  served,  owing  to  Mr  Pigot  not  being  on  board  the 
Ship.  I  understand  the  Marshall  intends  making  another  at 
tempt,  of  which  I  have  given  Captn  Bradley  Notice  —  I  shall 
make  no  comment  on  these  measures. 

The  British  Ship  Pitt  from  whom  the  men  were  impressed, 
has  at  last  been  released  from  Quarantine  and  admitted  to  an 
Entry  —  Captain  Bradley  has  not  however  returned  the  Men, 
and  the  Americans  are  very  warm  on  this  infringement  within 
their  territory. 

TO   ME.   MEKRY. 

New  York  30th  June  1804. 

(Private.) 
DEAE  SIE  — 

I  could  have  wished  that  you  had  expressed  yourself  in 
stronger  terms  in  your  letter  to  me  of  the  25  Instant,  respect 
ing  the  necessity  and  policy  of  Captain  Bradleys  returning  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1803-1804  173 

men  taken  from  the  Pitt,  because  it  certainly  is  the  only  im 
proper  act  intentionally  committed  by  him  and  his  officers  in 
this  unpleasant  affair,  and  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  on  the 
restoration  of  the  men,  and  a  full  assurance  on  the  part  of 
Captain  Bradley  and  his  Officers  that  if  the  Revenue  and 
health  officers  were  obstructed  by  them  in  the  execution  of  their 
duty,  it  was  owing  to  the  opposition  they  met  with  from  the 
Passengers  on  board  the  Pitt,  and  that  they  are  sorry  for  it — 
Should  you  agree  in  opinion  with  me  that  the  impressment  was 
illegal,  having  been  made  in  the  Port  of  New  York,  permit  me 
to  request  you  will  urge  the  restoring  of  the  men  in  your  next 
letter  —  Captain  Bradley  is  nearly  complete  in  his  Ships 
company. 

With  all  deferance  to  your  opinion,  allow  me  to  say,  that  let 
the  deficiency  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  with  respect  to  men  have 
been  ever  so  great,  it  is  not  a  justification  for  the  impressing 
of  men  within  the  Jurisdiction  of  this  State,  because  by  these 
means  their  naval  powers  would  be  increased,  a  measure  inad 
missible  in  a  neutral  port  j  and  contrary  to  the  Laws  of  Na 
tions —  Captain  Bradleys  answer  therefore  on  this  point,  I 
trust  will  be  considered  by  you  as  irrelevant  j  and  of  course 
that  you  will  not  urge  the  argument  with  the  Secretary  of 
State  at  Washington  —  You  will  pardon  me  for  the  Liberty  I 
take  in  giving  you  my  Sentiments. 

Should  you  however  differ  in  opinion  with  me,  and  think 
proper  to  urge  the  necessity  of  the  measure,  you  may  to 
strengthen  your  position  remark  that  when  the  french  repub 
lican  Ship  Ambuscade  some  years  since  was  in  this  port  and 
prepared  to  go  out  to  meet  HisMajestys  Ship  Boston,  that  she 
was  publicly  permitted  by  the  Governor  of  this  State  and 
Mayor  of  New  York  to  increase  her  establishment  of  men  at 
least  one  third,  by  recruiting  seamen  in  this  port  for  that  pur 
pose,  and  that  no  notice  was  ever  taken  of  it  by  the  American 
Government  —  After  the  action,  the  Ambuscade  returned  into 
this  port,  and  then  extra  Seamen  were  discharged.1  I  shall  con 
tinue  to  address  my  letters  to  you  at  Washington  until  further 

1  The  action  took  place  off  Long  Branch,  August  1,  1793.     An  account 
of  it  will  be  found  in  McMaster's  Hist,  of  the  U.-S.,  Vol.  II,  p.  123. 


174        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

notice  —  The  french  Frigates  have  Out  new  Sails  and  taken 
pilots  on  board  —  still  I  fear  they  have  no  intention  of  going 
out  —  Strong  suspicions  have  been  entertained  that  Bonaparte 
would  embark  for  Nantz  on  board  the  Brig  Rolla  —  of  this 
Captains  Bradley  and  Douglass  have  notice,  with  ample 
private  information  respecting  baggage  and  other  incidental 
minutia. 

TO   VICE-ADMIKAL   SIK  ANDKEW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  3d  July  1804. 
SIR. 

I  yesterday  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  private  letter  of 
the  8th  and  your  public  letter  of  the  tenth  of  June  —  Herewith 
is  a  certificate  from  me  on  the  points  you  requested  respecting 
the  blockade  of  Martinique,  which  I  trust  will  prove  satisfac 
tory.  Every  measure  in  my  power  was  taken  immediately 
on  the  arrival  of  the  French  Frigates  to  give  you  the  earliest 
Notice,  but  the  easterly  winds  continued  without  intermission 
for  ten  days  immediately  after  their  arrival  —  Captain  LyalFs 
meeting  with  the  American  Ship  Mary  was  very  fortunate,  I 
regret  he  did  not  detain  the  french  Prisoners  because  from  his 
Statement  their  conduct  was  more  than  suspicious. 

My  letter  to  you  of  the  22d  of  June  did  not  get  down  to 
Sandy  Hook  in  time  for  the  Driver,  I  mention  this  circum 
stance  because  you  naturally  must  be  surprized  at  not  hearing 
from  me  by  so  direct  a  conveyance  —  The  Ship  Pitt  has  been 
admitted  to  an  entry;  but  the  American  Government  are 
warmly  complaining  to  His  Majesty s  Minister  of  the  infrac 
tion  of  the  Laws  of  Neutrality  and  violation  of  their  own  Laws 
by  Captain  Bradley  and  his  officers  —  Mr  Merry  has  also 
strongly  remonstrated  against  the  violent  and  illegal  measures 
of  the  Mayor  and  Port  Wardens  by  inhibiting  the  Pilots  from 
taking  His  Majestys  Ships  to  Sea — A  Warrant  has  issued 
against  Lieu*  Pigot  from  the  district  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  obstructing  the  Revenue  officer  in  the  Execution  of 
his  duty  —  On  Friday  last1  as  His  Majestys  Ship  Boston  was 

i  The  29th  of  June. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  175 

working  out  to  Sea  having  a  Pilot  on  board,  she  took  the 
ground  (by  shooting  too  far  ahead  as  the  Pilot  says  in  his 
Justification  in  going  about)  —  It  was  fortunately  low  Water, 
and  she  again  floated  in  a  little  more  than  an  hour,  without 
sustaining  the  least  injury  —  This  accident  was  particularly 
unfortunate,  having  acquainted  Captain  Bradley  of  the  sailing 
of  the  American  Brig  Rolla,  in  which  I  had  reason  to  believe 
two  of  Bonapartes  Servants,  were,  and  did  embark  with  dis 
patches  and  probably  property  —  The  Rolla  went  to  Sea  while 
the  Boston  was  aground  —  The  Boston  has  been  ever  since 
cruizing  oif  and  on  this  Port,  and  the  Cambrian  has  probably 
gone  out  to  join  her  this  day —  The  french  Frigates  have  Cut 
new  sails,  and  taken  Pilots  on  board,  still  there  is  no  appear 
ance  of  their  going  out  —  Their  friends  suggest  that  as  these 
Ships  were  charged  with  a  secret  mission  to  the  French  Min 
ister  to  these  States,  and  have  now  his  dispatches  on  board  — 
they  would  not  be  justified  in  risquing  an  action  —  a  miserable 
subterfuge. 

Captain  Lyall  on  his  way  from  this  impressed  some  Seamen, 
amongst  whom  is  a  man  named  Robert  Kelly,  who  I  under 
stand  is  an  uncommon  fine  Seaman  and  a  respectable  man  —  He 
is  from  Ireland  —  His  Wife  who  appears  a  very  decent  Woman 
applied  to  me  to  endeavor  to  effect  his  discharge  —  This  I  re 
fused  j  she  then  begged  I  would  intreat  you  to  permit  her  to 
come  to  her  husband  —  I  was  so  pleased  with  the  manners  and 
appearance  of  the  Woman  that  I  assured  her  I  would  request 
for  her  this  indulgence ;  if  therefore  you  can  with  convenience 
transfer  this  man  to  your  flag  ship  and  permit  her  to  come  on 
board  you  will  do  me  a  favor  —  She  is  accustomed  to  the  Sea, 
and  has  been  more  than  a  year  on  board  with  him. 


TO    CAPTAIN    BKADLEY. 

New  York  25th  July  1804 
MY  DEAR  SIR. 

Your  letter  of  yesterday  with  a  dispatch  for  Mr  Merry  I  re 
ceived  early  this  Morning  from  Peacock's  Man  —  The  latter 


176  COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS   BAECLAY 

will  go  to  Philadelphia  where  Mr  Merry  now  is  by  this  day's 
Post. —  Since  ray  last  to  you,  I  have  consulted  with  Daniels, 
formerly  the  oldest  and  most  experienced  Pilot  for  this  Port, 
but  who  has  been  dismissed  for  his  attachment  to  Great  Brit 
ain,  as  I  before  mentioned  to  you.  He  agrees  with  me  that 
the  only  sure  method  to  give  you  at  all  times  early  Notice  in 
the  Event  of  the  French  Frigates  going  through  Hell  Gate, 
will  be  to  have  Stevenson  below  the  Narrows  between  Coney 
and  Long  Island  where  he  can  lay  in  safety. —  No  one  need 
know  his  business,  and  he  can  go  and  return  every  tide  from 
Quarter  flood  to  Low  Water,  because  the  French  Ships  if 
they  intend  passing  Hell  Gate  must  get  under  way  the  last  of 
the  Ebb,  so  as  to  be  at  Hell  Gate  at  slack  Water,  or  if  there  is 
a  fresh  Westerly  Breese  it  is  most  safe  for  them  to  pass  that 
place  the  very  last  of  the  Ebb. —  Thus  Stevenson  may  be 
away  eight  or  nine  hours  every  day  and  all  Night,  of  conse 
quence  he  can  continue  to  pass  from  you  to  me,  so  that  no  ad 
ditional  expense  will  be  incurred. —  You  can  consider  of  this 
and  resolve  on  what  you  think  best. —  I  am  promised  the  ear 
liest  Notice  should  they  ship  Pilots  for  Hell  Gate :  still  it  may 
so  happen  that  I  may  be  disappointed. —  Everything  appears 
very  quiet  amongst  them. 

The  Complaints  against  the  officers  of  His  Majesty s  Ships 
under  your  Command  you  will  observe  are  now  become  the 
Subject  of  National  Enquiry.  A  Regular  Complaint  has  been 
made  by  the  American  Secretary  of  State  to  Mr  Merry  His 
Majesty's  Representative  to  these  States,  who  from  your  an 
swer,  will  make  a  reply  to  the  Charges,  and  will  naturally 
transmit  Copies  to  Lord  Harrowby  the  Minister  for  foreign 
affairs. —  In  saying  that  I  hoped  you  would  not  again  come  up 
above  the  Narrows,  I  assuredly  alluded  to  the  avoiding  any 
more  Complaints  that  might  be  made  in  consequence  of  an 
other  application  to  detain  His  Majesty's  Ships  until  the 
French  had  sailed :  and  I  confess  it  is  with  Reluctance  that  I 
understand  from  your  letter  you  intend  coming  within  the 
Hook  to  Water. —  The  American  Government  already  charge 
His  Majesty's  Ships  with  hovering  on  their  Coasts,  with  a 
view  of  capturing  Ships  of  other  Nations  in  alliance  with 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1803-1804  177 

them.  Your  coming  in  and  going  out  will  confirm  the  Charge. 
The  Weather  is  so  very  fine  I  should  suppose  you  might  be 
watered  over  the  Bar,  from  the  Schooner  that  last  watered 
Cap*  Douglass. —  I  merely  suggest  this,  you  are  the  only  and 
best  Judge.  I  will  see  the  man  and  either  hire  him,  or  a  large 
Vessel  for  you  and  send  her  down  whenever  you  order  it.  At 
all  events  she  may  go  out  and  take  your  Empty  Casks. —  Let 
me  know  the  day  you  wish  her  sent  down,  how  many  casks 
you  have  to  fill. 

TO     ME.     MEEEY. 

New  York  13th  July  1804 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you,  a  copy  of  Captain  Brad- 
leys  letter  to  me  of  yesterday  in  answer  to  mine  in  which 
I  forwarded  to  him  an  extract  from  your  letter  to  me  —  What 
Captain  Bradley  notices  respecting  the  conduct  of  the  officers 
of  the  French  Ship  of  War  Poursivant  in  the  Chesepeak,  I  sus 
pect  is  correct,  having  not  long  since  seen  a  very  particular 
statement  of  the  Facts  in  a  paper  from  Norfolk  in  Virginia  — 
Mr  Moore  communicated  to  me,  the  cause  of  your  present  de 
tention  at  Baltimore  —  I  regret  the  accident,  as  you  will  not 
find  it  easy  to  replace  the  loss  of  a  good  coachman  in  Amer 
ica  —  By  the  public  papers  you  will  be  informed  of  the  unfor 
tunate  death  of  General  Hamilton,  one  of  the  most  respectable 
characters  in  these  States,  and  a  gentleman  of  eminent  Tal 
ents  1  — I  consider  him  even  as  a  loss  to  His  Majesty  and  our 
Government,  from  the  prudence  of  his  measures,  his  conciliat 
ing  disposition,  his  abhorence  of  the  French  Revolution,  and 
all  republican  principles  and  doctrine,  and  his  very  great  at 
tachment  to  the  British  Government  —  The  cause  of  the  duel 
originated  in  General  Hamilton  having  repeatedly  and  pub- 
lickly  expressed  his  opinion  of  Mr  Burr;  particularly  at  the 
late  election  for  Governor  of  this  State,  and  his  endeavoring 
to  dissuade  the  Federalists  from  co  operating  in  favor  of  Mr 
Burrs  election. 

1  The  duel  was  fought  on  the  llth,  and  Hamilton  died  on  the  12th  of  July. 

12 


178  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS   BARCLAY 

TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York  18th  July  1804. 
SIR 

Your  letter  of  the  16th  Current,  I  received  this  morning,  to 
gether  with  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  American  Secretary  of 
State  to  you  under  date  of  the  7th  Instant.  Copies  of  these  are 
now  making  and  will  be  forwarded  this  Evening  or  tomorrow 
morning  to  Captain  Bradley  of  His  Majesty s  Ship  Cambrian 
and  Cap*  Douglass  of  the  Boston — It  will  not  however  be  in 
their  power  to  reply  before  I  possess  them  with  the  remainder 
of  the  Documents  you  was  from  want  of  time  prevented  send 
ing  to  me. 

The  Driver  went  to  Sea  on  the  24th  of  June,  the  instant  it 
was  advisable  for  any  ship  to  go  out  after  the  19th  from  which 
day  to  the  24  it  had  blowed  a  gale  from  the  Eastward,  not  a 
ship  of  any  description  had  put  to  Sea  in  the  interval.  It  is 
possible  in  her  way  off  the  Coast,  she  may  have  boarded  several 
vessels,  and  impressed  some  men  —  The  facts  Vice  Admiral  Sir 
Andrew  Mitchell  will  enquire  into  and  every  man  not  a  sub 
ject  of  His  Majesty  will  be  discharged  —  But  the  charge  of  the 
Driver  hovering  on  the  confines  of  these  States  is  incorrect  — 
She  most  assuredly  proceeded  with  all  reasonable  expedition 
to  the  place  of  her  destination,  Halifax  —  On  her  passage  and 
near  this  place  she  met  the  young  Factor  and  Diligence  Ships 
from  Ireland  from  whom  she  took  some  subjects  of  His  Ma 
jesty.  If  any  Americans  were  impressed  through  mistake  they 
will  be  restored  —  From  an  intimate  knowledge  of  Captain 
Lyall  I  can  safely  assure  you,  it  was  not  done  intentionally  — 
you  may  safely,  Sir,  assure  the  American  Secretary  of  State, 
that  His  Majesty  s  Captains  are  very  delicate  on  this  Subject. 
I  have  never  heard  nor  do  I  believe  that  either  of  His  Majes 
ty's  Ships  the  Cambrian,  Boston,  or  Driver  boarded  any  ship 
or  vessel  from  their  arrival  within  the  Jurisdiction  of  these 
States  to  the  Day  of  their  Departure  the  British  Ship  Pitt  ex- 
cepted.  Neither  have  I  heard  of  their  boarding  and  impress 
ing  any  men  from  Ships  outward  bound,  even  beyond  the  Ju 
risdiction  of  these  States  which  to  them  was  lawful  and  if  any 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  179 

of  the  men  on  board  were  Subjects  of  His  Majesty  to  take 
them  from  thence. 

While  the  three  Ships  lay  in  Sandy  Hook  bay,  they  did  not 
intermeddle  with  any  vessel  coming  in  or  going  out  The 
Driver  being  only  a  Sloop  of  War  went  to  sea  on  the  24th  June 
at  a  moment  when  the  two  large  Ships  could  not.  In  the 
same  manner  the  Boston  a  ship  of  three  and  an  half  feet  less 
water  than  the  Cambrian  went  to  Sea  on  the  30th  of  June 
when  it  was  impracticable  for  the  Pilot  to  take  the  Cambrian 
out  —  you  will  however  recollect,  that  the  day  before  from 
anxiety  to  get  out  the  Boston  made  an  Attempt  with  the  Wind 
ahead,  and  took  the  Ground  —  On  the  3rd  July  the  Cambrian 
went  to  Sea  —  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  notice  the  remark 
made  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  the  Port  of  New  York  is 
virtually  blockaded  by  our  Ships  —  They  are  far  beyond  the 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  of  America,  where  the  Sea 
appertains  to  His  Majesty  in  common  with  all  other  Nations 
— French  and  Dutch  Ships  resort  to  these  Ports,  and  at  times 
french  Ships  of  War  and  Privateers.  The  Protection  of  His 
Majesty's  Subjects  and  the  Service  require  that  these  should 
be  captured  —  American  Ships  navigated'  by  Americans  or 
men  of  any  other  Nation  save  British  Subjects  pass  our  Ships 
of  War  without  molestation — At  this  moment  the  Americans 
have  one  hundred  British  Seamen  in  their  Service,  for  every 
American  by  accident  impressed  on  board  His  Majesty's  Ships 
of  War,  and  I  aver  the  fact  that  a  great  proportion  of  the 
Crews  of  the  American  Frigates  are  Subjects  of  His  Majes 
ty's.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  Notoriety  that  Certificates  of  Cit 
izenship  (commonly  called  Protections)  are  issued  to  English, 
Irish,  and  Scotch  men,  many  of  whom  have  not  been  a  month 
in  these  States. 


TO    CAPTAIN   BEADLEY. 

New  York  22d  July  1804. 

Sm, 

When  I  communicated  to  you  the  possibility  of  the  French 
Frigates  attempting  a  passage  through  Hellgate  to  avoid  an 


180  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

action  with  His  Majesty s  Ships  under  your  command,  and  of 
the  means  of  giving  you  notice  in  such  an  event,  I  calculated 
on  the  least  possibly  favorable  moment  on  our  part,  when  the 
attempt  could  be  made,  and  under  these  circumstances  stated 
that  it  might  take  from  ten  to  eighteen  hours.  This  was  un 
der  an  impression  that  you  might  be  four  or  five  leagues  with 
out  the  Hook.  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  with  a  gale  from  the 
Southwest  and  the  very  first  of  the  tide  of  flood,  those  ships 
will  be  under  weigh,  many  hours  before  I  can  give  you  notice. 
A  Pilot  Boat  with  the  wind  from  that  quarter  can  make  no 
head  way  against  the  tide :  nor  can  a  cutter  or  row  boat  do 
much  better,  particularly  after  they  get  below  the  narrows 
and  have  a  heavy  sea  or  swell  to  obstruct  them.  In  calcula 
tions  of  every  kind,  it  is  most  safe  to  take  the  worst  that  can 
happen  —  ordinarily  it  is  probable  the  notice  could  be  con 
veyed  to  you  in  eight  hours  at  farthest. 

On  my  part  you  may  rest  assured  of  every  attention  to  their 
motions,  and  of  my  using  the  best  means  to  give  you  the  ear 
liest  notice.  They  have  been  up  in  their  barges,  and  sounded 
Hellgate,  on  their  return  they  expressed  their  opinion  of  the 
difficulty  of  the  navigation.  I  am  therefore  rather  of  opinion 
that  they  will  not  hazard  it  —  One  of  the  most  experienced 
Pilots  assures  me  it  is  an  hundred  to  one  but  they  get  on  there 
in  the  attempt. 

The  best  manner  to  be  adopted,  will  be  to  have  Stevenson 
with  his  boat  laying  below  the  Narrows,  with  an  officer  from 
one  of  your  ships  always  with  him :  at  every  slack  tide  during 
the  day  he  can  take  a  look  at  the  Ships,  and  if  they  are  not  in 
motion  go  down  with  letters  from  me  to  you,  or  bring  back 
dispatches  from  you,  so  as  to  be  at  his  station  before  the  next 
low  water.  This  will  be  the  best  mode  because  below  the  nar 
rows  there  is  but  little  tide  to  obstruct  a  boat.  I  would  not 
however  have  the  boat  to  go  down  to  you  when  the  french 
Ships  get  under  way :  from  the  improbability  of  their  being 
able  to  get  through  Hell  gate,  but  to  wait  my  orders.  I  will 
immediately  cross  to  long  Island  and  watch  their  motions ; 
the  instant  they  are  through  Hellgate,  ride  express  to  the 
Narrows  and  dispatch  the  boat  to  you.  This  cannot  take 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  181 

more  than  an  hour  from  the  time  they  pass  Hellgate.  If  yon 
approve  of  the  plan,  let  me  know,  send  np  an  officer,  and  I 
will  go  and  station  them.  Let  the  officer  be  dressed  either  in 
plain  cloth,  or  as  an  ordinary  seaman  to  prevent  suspicion. 

You  must  not  think  of  again  coming  above  the  narrows  — 
From  private  letters  dated  at  Balltown  Springs  about  190 
Miles  up  the  Hudson  river,  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  his  Lady 
were  there  a  few  days  since  —  I  cannot  therefore  think  they 
have  it  in  contemplation  to  attempt  an  escape  —  still  they 
may,  their  measures  are  very  secret. 


TO   ADMIRAL   SIR  ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  1st  August  1804. 
SIR. 

The  boat  which  returned  this  morning  from  the  Cambrian 
brought  me  your  letter  of  the  18th  of  July,  and  another  from 
Captain  Skene  announcing  his  arrival  off  Sandy  Hook  in  His 
Majesty s  Ship  Leander.  I  am  happy  to  learn  that  Captain 
Bradleys  conduct  meets  your  approbation.  He  is  a  very 
worthy,  zealous  officer  and  a  gentleman  for  whom  I  have  a 
sincere  regard.  I  am  however  apprehensive  you  are  under  a 
mistake  in  supposing  the  officers  commanding  ships  of  War  of 
belligerent  Powers,  having  a  right  in  a  neutral  Port  to  board 
ships  of  their  own  nation  and  to  impress  men  from  them. 
But  this  is  a  point  for  Mr  Merry  to  maintain  with  the  American 
Government,  and  unnecessary  for  me  to  discuss  with  you.  I 
shall  only  add  that  I  am  clear  His  Majesty  s  ministers  will 
coincide  with  me.  The  conduct  of  French  ships  of  War  in 
this  Port  and  in  Virginia,  may  be  used  as  a  collateral  argu 
ment  in  defence  of  Captain  Bradleys  measure;  but  never  in  jus 
tification  —  because  two  Wrongs  will  not  make  one  right — I  am 
rather  apprehensive  you  have  been  misinformed  respecting  the 
"  French  Frigates  now  in  this  Port  having  boarded  a  French 
Schooner  or  Brig  and  impressed  the  whole  of  the  crew."  On 
an  enquiry,  all  that  I  could  learn,  was  that  they  had  taken 
from  a  French  Vessel  four  men,  who  they  stated  to  have  de- 
12* 


182        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

serted  from  them  —  The  Conduct  however  of  the  Poursuivant 
this  year,  and  of  the  Semilante  two  or  three  years  since  in  the 
Chesepeak  was  shamefully  outrageous,  and  I  have  possessed 
Mr  Merry  of  the  facts  to  be  used  as  an  offset  to  the  complaints 
of  the  French  Minister  against  the  Ships  under  your  command 
now  off  this  Port. 

I  have  heretofore  stated  to  you  that  the  conduct  of  the  Mayor 
and  Port  Wardens  of  this  place  was  in  my  opinion  violent,  il 
legal,  and  highly  expressive  of  their  partiality  to  the  French ; 
and  I  have  represented  their  measures  in  that  point  of  view 
to  Mr  Merry  and  Lord  Hawkesbury.  Allow  me  however  to 
answer  the  two  Questions  in  your  Letter  —  1st,  Why  was  not 
the  Pilots  taken  from  the  French  Frigates  who  was  of  superior 
force  to  the  British?  Answer — Because  no  requisition  was 
made  on  the  part  of  the  Officers  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  for 
this  purpose.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  believe  that  under 
similar  circumstances,  on  application  on  the  part  of  His 
Majesty  to  the  American  Government,  an  order  would  have 
issued  inhibiting  of  French  ships  of  War  sailing  until  24 
hours  had  elapsed  from  the  sailing  of  British  Ships.  I  have 
in  several  instances  made  such  an  application  in  favor  of 
Montreal  ships  to  have  Privateers  detained,  and  always  met  a 
ready  compliance. 

2d  —  Had  any  accident  happened  to  the  Pitt,  who  would  the 
Master  have  applied  to  for  assistance,  the  Mayor  of  New  York, 
or  the  British  Frigates?  Answer.  Undoubtedly  to  the  Com 
mander  of  the  Frigates  —  I  do  not  however  see  that  this 
answer  will  in  the  least  lead  to  a  justification  of  Captain  Brad- 
leys  conduct  —  On  the  part  of  Captain  Campbell  of  the  Pitt, 
there  was  no  complaint  against  Captain  Bradley,  all  he 
wanted  was  his  ship  to  be  admitted  to  an  entry — he  over 
and  again  said  to  Captain  Bradley,  if  that  could  be  effected 
he  cared  not  for  the  men,  because  he  supposed  the  greater 
part  would  leave  him.  It  is  the  United  States  who  complain 
of  an  infringement  of  their  Laws  within  their  Jurisdiction. 
Accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  complying  with  my  request 
to  take  Robert  Kelly  on  board  your  ship,  I  shall  write  Captain 
Keen  respecting  his  wife  who  I  believe  a  very  decent  woman. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  183 

In  the  Brig  Jefferson  sent  to  Halifax  for  adjudication,  Cap 
tain  Bradley  sent  as  part  of  the  prize  crew,  a  man  named  Bil 
lings,  who  has  been  proved  to  Captain  Bradley  to  be  an  Ameri 
can  —  I  intreat  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  order  him  to  be 
discharged  —  in  addition  to  every  other  reason,  I  am  preju 
diced  in  his  favor  from  there  having  been  no  application  to 
the  American  Government  for  his  release,  but  only  to  me. 

It  is  with  much  regret  I  inform  you  of  the  capture  of  His 
Majestys  Ship  Lilly,  and  the  death  of  Captain  Compton  and 
the  first  Lieutenant.  The  inclosed  packet  from  Consul  Ham 
ilton  will  give  you  the  particulars.1 


TO   MR.    MERRY. 

New  York  10th  August  1804 
SIR. 

Captain  Skene  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Leander  on  Saturday 
the  4th  Current  boarded  some  Leagues  from  Sandy  Hook  the 
American  Ship  Eugenia  John  Mansfield  Master  from  Bour- 
deaux  to  New  York.  On  examining  the  Ship  and  her  papers 
he  was  satisfied  that  Enemies  property  was  on  board.  Under 
this  conviction  he  took  possession  of  the  Ship  put  a  prize 
Master  and  Seamen  on  board  and  ordered  her  for  Halifax  in 
Nova  Scotia  for  trial  in  the  Court  of  Vice  Admiralty  in  that 
port.  In  consequence  of  Easterly  Winds  and  the  State  of  the 
Ships  sails  the  prize  master  was  obliged  to  come  to  an  anchor 
under  Fisher's  Island  near  New  London  Light  House ;  John 
Mansfield  the  late  Master  and  Robert  Parry  the  mate  of  the 
Eugenia  who  had  been  permitted  by  Captain  Skene  to  remain 

1  The  Lilly  was  captured  on  July  The  French  had  the  evening  before 

15,  1804,  off  the  Carolina  coast,  by  a  captured  an  English  ship  from  Af - 

French  privateer.     Captain  Comp-  rica  to  Charleston  with  slaves,  which 

ton   and   the  first  lieutenant  were  the  Frenchman  took  out,  and  gave 

killed  early  in  the  action,  and  the  the  ship  to  her  crew  and  that  of  the 

Lilly    was     afterward    carried    by  Lilly."   The  two  English  crews,  with 

boarding.      The  New-York  Gazette  the    captured    slave-ship,    reached 

of  July  30  adds,  "The  French  had  Norfolk  some  days  after  the  action. 
180  to  200  men,  the  Lilly  about  78. 


184        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

on  board  that  ship,  to  see  that  there  was  no  embezzlement  of 
the  cargo,  improperly  left  the  Ship,  went  on  shore  at  New 
London  collected  a  number  of  persons,  armed  them  and  them 
selves,  and  in  a  fast  sailing  sloop  over  took  the  Eugenia, 
boarded  her  by  violence,  took  possession  of  her,  turned  the 
prize  master  and  British  Seamen  on  Shore  at  New  London, 
and  proceeded  immediately  to  New  York  where  she  arrived 
late  on  the  Evening  of  the  8th  Instant.  The  ship  was  yester 
day  admitted  to  an  entry  — 

At  four  oClock  yesterday  afternoon  Mr  Yates  the  Prize  Mas 
ter  arrived  in  this  City  and  stated  the  above  facts.  I  have 
taken  his  affidavit,  herewith  inclosed,  to  enable  you,  Sir,  to 
make  a  proper  representation  to  the  American  Government  of 
this  illegal  act  of  violence  and  piracy  committed  by  Citizens  of 
these  States. 

I  have  transmitted  to  the  Collector  and  Naval  Officer  of  this 
Port  a  copy  of  Mr  Yeat's  affidavit,  and  requested  them  to  de 
mand  all  the  original  papers  of  the  Eugenia  from  Mr  Patrick 
the  owner  and  John  Mansfield  the  Master,  and  to  take  imme 
diate  possession  of  the  Ship  and  prevent  any  part  of  her  cargo 
being  taken  out  or  removed  until  they  receive  orders  from 
Mr  Madison  the  American  Secretary  of  State. 

I  forbear  making  any  comments  on  this  outrageous  act  on 
the  part  of  Captain  Mansfield,  his  Mate  and  others,  and  trust 
on  a  representation  from  you,  that  the  American  Government 
will  take  such  measures  as  justice  and  a  wish  to  preserve  the 
present  good  understanding  which  subsist  between  His  Maj 
esty  and  the  United  States  of  America  require. 


TO   ME.    MEKRY. 

New  York  14  August  1804 
SIR, 

It  was  not  in  my  power  to  give  you  more  information  re 
specting  the  American  Ship  Eugenia  than  on  the  tenth  of  this 
month,  because  she  did  not  arrive  until  late  in  the  Evening  of 
the  8th,  on  the  ninth  there  were  many  contradictory  reports  in 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1803-1804  185 

circulation  respecting  her  escape,  to  not  any  of  which  the 
least  credit,  could  attach.  I  therefore  waited  the  arrival  of 
the  prize  Master,  and  lost  not  a  moment  to  give  you  his  State 
ment  under  oath  — 

Captain  Skene  of  His  Majesty s  Ship  Leander  pressed  a  Brit 
ish  Seaman  from  the  American  Ship  Swift,  Murphy  Master  — 
He  also  has  taken  one  British  Seaman,  and  fifteen  Irish  Emi 
grants  from  the  American  Ship  Live  Oak,  but  both  these 
ships  were  far  beyond  the  line  of  demarcation,  a  League  from 
Shore. —  Indeed  the  Live  Oak  was  subject  to  heavy  pains  and 
penalties  for  bringing  out  more  men,  than  by  her  Tonage  she 
was  entitled  by  act  of  Parliament.  I  know  of  no  other  im 
pressments  :  but  I  have  this  day  written  to  Captain  Bradley 
acquainting  him,  that  I  have  fortunately  suppressed  the  pub 
lication  of  the  affidavits  of  three  Masters  of  Ships,  who  de 
posed  that  they  had  been  boarded  from  the  Leander  within 
three  miles  of  the  Shore,  and  I  have  requested  him  to  prevent 
in  future  a  similar  breach  of  neutrality. 


TO   ADMIBAL   SIR   ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  14  August  1804 
SIR. 

As  it  is  uncertain  that  the  Letters  from  Captn  Bradley  and 
Captain  Skene  will  arrive  in  time  to  go  by  this  conveyance, 
and  you  may  be  anxious  to  know  the  particulars  of  the  case  of 
the  American  ship  Eugenia,  John  Mansfield  Master  from  Bour- 
deaux  to  New  York,  detained  by  Captain  Skene  on  the  4  In 
stant  and  ordered  to  Halifax,  I  have  the  Honor  to  communi 
cate  the  following  facts  collected  from  the  testimony  of  Mr 
Yeates  the  Prize  Master  — 

On  the  4th  of  August  Mr  Yeates  Master's  Mate,  Mr  Masters 
Midshipman  8  Seamen  and  two  marines  were  sent  by  Captain 
Skene  from  the  Leander  on  board  the  Eugenia,  with  orders  to 
Mr  Yates  the  prize  Master  to  take  that  Ship  to  Halifax  Nova 
Scotia.  Light  Winds  and  those  from  the  Eastward,  together 
with  the  miserable  situation  of  the  Eugenia  in  sails,  pre- 


186        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

vented  Mr  Yeates  getting  to  the  South  East  so  as  to  double 
Nantucket  Shoals;  and  finding  himself  near  to  the  Eastern 
most  part  of  Long  Island  he  resolved  to  go  over  the  Shoals. 
On  the  6th  he  took  a  Pilot  on  board  for  that  purpose,  but  the 
Wind  soon  after  coming  to  E  S  E  blowing  fresh,  with  thick 
hazy  weather,  and  being  unable  on  either  tack  to  weather  the 
land,  by  the  advice  of  the  Pilot  he  bore  away  for  Fisher's 
Island,  and  anchored  about  a  mile  from  the  New  London 
Light  House. —  Captain  Mansfield  and  his  mate  who  had  been 
sent  in  the  Ship  for  Halifax,  made  their  escape  from  her  on  the 
7th  Instant  while  Mr  Yeates  was  below,  and  went  on  shore, 
where  they  hired  an  armed  Banditte  to  retake  the  Ship,  and 
came  out  from  New  London  in  a  sloop  for  that  purpose. 
Suspicious  of  this,  and  the  Wind  having  changed  a  few 
points,  Mr  Yeates  had  cut  his  cable  and  got  under  way,  and 
had  proceeded  some  leagues,  when  he  was  overtaken,  boarded 
and  carried  by  twenty-five  men  from  the  Sloop  — Mr  Yeates  and 
the  Leanders  men  were  put  on  shore  at  New  London,  and  the 
Eugenia  proceeded  direct  to  this  place  through  the  Sound 
where  she  arrived  on  the  8th  Instant. 

Mr  Yeates,  Mr  Masters  three  Seamen  and  the  two  Marines 
come  here  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  —  The  other  five 
Seamen  deserted  at  New  London  —  I  immediately  took  his 
affidavit  and  transmitted  it  the  next  morning,  with  a  letter 
from  me  detailing  the  particulars  and  requesting  Mr  Merry  to 
make  spirited  remonstrances  with  respect  to  the  Conduct  of 
Captain  Mansfield  his  Mate  and  the  armed  men  hired  at  New 
London,  and  to  demand  a  restitution  of  the  Ship. —  As  the 
Ship  altho'  admitted  to  a,n  entry  had  not  yet  commenced  the 
discharge  of  her  Cargo,  I  also  wrote  on  the  morning  of  the 
10th  a  Letter  to  the  proper  officers  of  the  Customs  on  the  Sub 
ject,  inclosing  a  copy  of  Mr  Yeates7  affidavit,  and  required  of 
them,  to  regain  the  possession  of  the  Ship's  papers,  and  to 
take  the  said  Ship  into  their  custody  and  not  permit  an  Arti 
cle  to  be  landed  or  removed  from  her,  until  they  received  or 
ders  from  the  American  Secretary  of  State  to  whom  M1'  Merry 
would  make  a  formal  representation  — 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  you  copies  of  the  answer  to  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  187 

above  —  On  M1  Merry's  opinion,  I  shall  make  no  other  commu 
nication  than  that  it  does  not  correspond  with  mine.  From 
his  situation  and  experience  however  he  must  be  the  best 
judge. — I  am  pained  to  add  he  has  been  very  unwell  for  some 
time  past. 

TO   ME.   MEEKY. 

New  York  Aug*  18th  1804 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  enclose  you  a  letter  from  Captain  Skeue 
of  His  Majesty's  Ship  Leander,  and  a  copy  of  a  letter  from 
Captain  Bradley  of  the  Cambrian  to  me  received  this  Morning. 

I  have  to  acquaint  you  that  the  Ship  Little  Cornelia  de 
tained  by  the  Leander  and  sent  to  Halifax  for  adjudication 
was  retaken  by  the  Master  Mate  &  Cook  and  carried  into  New 
London.  No  act  of  Violence  attending  the  Measure  —  Mr 
Juhel  the  Owner  has  very  handsomely  disavowed  his  approba 
tion  of  the  Measure,  returned  Captain  Skene  the  papers,  and 
offers  to  abide  the  Sentence  of  the  Vice  Court  of  Admiralty  at 
Halifax.1 

TO   ME.    HAMMOND. 

New  York  23d  August  1804. 
SIR. 

I  was  informed  a  few  days  since  that  the  second  instalment 
due  by  these  states  to  His  Majesty  had  not  yet  been  paid,  ow 
ing  to  Mr  Merry  not  having  received  an  order  for  that  pur 
pose  —  It  may  be  of  moment  that  Lord  Harrowby  should  be 
made  acquainted  that  Spanish  dollars  are  not  to  be  obtained 
at  any  premium;  and  bills  of  exchange  bear  an  advance  of 
two  and  one  half  per  Cent,  but  would  rise  to  five  if  £200,000 
Sterling  is  to  be  purchased.  Besides  with  every  precaution 
there  is  much  risque  in  buying  bills  from  Merchants  —  Under 

1  Notwithstanding     Mr.      JuhePs  was  a  French  merchant,  living  in 

handsome  offer,  it  does  not  appear  New-York,   who  had  married  Cor- 

that  the  Little  Cornelia  was  ever,  nelia  Livingston,  sister  to  Schuyler 

in    fact,    surrendered.      Mr.   Juhel  Livingston,  Barclay's  son-in-law. 


188  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS   BARCLAY 

these  impressions  and  not  knowing  whether  any  mode  has 
been  adopted  for  advantageously  remitting  this  Sum  or  mak 
ing  a  convenient  application  of  it;  I  am  led  to  offer  through 
you  my  opinion  to  his  Lordship. — 

The  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  is  to  be  paid  by  the 
American  States  as  a  gross  Sum  in  satisfaction  of  British 
Debts  due  to  American  Loyalists  —  Whenever  the  Commis 
sioners  appointed  to  certify  the  Sums  due  each  Loyalist  re 
port.  I  think  it  would  be  most  for  His  Majesty s  Service  to 
give  drafts  for  the  respective  Sums  awarded  them  payable  in 
America.  This  mode  will  save  the  Government  much  trouble 
and  expense  and  free  it  from  the  possibility  of  danger  from 
protested  Bills  —  The  individuals  who  are  to  be  paid  will  find 
ways  of  getting  their  money  to  Great  Britain,  indeed  many  will 
want  it  in  this  country. —  A  conviction  of  the  prudence  of  this 
measure  has  led  me  to  take  the  liberty  of  offering  my  opinion, 
and  if  no  more  proper  person  can  be  found  to  receive  the 
money  and  pay  the  drafts,  I  beg  leave  to  tender  my  Services  — 

It  is  with  pain  I  mention  to  you  Mr  Merry  having  had  a  sec 
ond  severe  attack  —  It  is  of  the  apoplectic  kind  —  His  mind 
since  his  arrival  in  America  has  been  much  perplexed  by  un 
toward  events  of  which  you  are  not  ignorant. 

His  Majestys  Ships  Leander  and  Cambrian  still  continue  off 
this  Port,  watching  the  French  Frigates  within  —  It  is  said 
the  latter  intend  going  to  Sea  in  a  few  days.  Many  com 
plaints  from  the  American  Government  against  the  conduct  of 
the  commanders  of  the  British  Ships  of  War ;  but  all  of  them 
unfounded,  save  that  of  the  17th  of  June,  respecting  the  Ship 
Pitt,  and  treatment  of  the  American  officers. 


TO   MK.   MERKY. 

New  York  24  August  1804. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  am  greatly  pained  to  learn  by  your  private  letter  that  you 
have  experienced  a  relapse  and  continue  weak  and  indisposed. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  189 

The  information  in  your  own  hand  writing  has  been  com 
municated  to  the  Commanders  of  His  Majestys  Ships  of  War 
off  this  Port. —  By  the  news  papers  you  will  see  there  are 
many  charges  against  them  of  impressments  within  the  Amer 
ican  Waters,  maltreatment  and  imprudent  expressions,  most 
if  not  the  whole  of  them  are  without  foundation :  but  four  in 
stances  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  neither  of  which  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  complaint,  in  which  I  am  well  as 
sured  the  American  ships  were  boarded  within  three  miles  of 
the  Shore.  I  have  repeatedly  stated  this  to  Captains  Bradley 
and  Skene,  and  requested  them  to  be  more  careful  in  future 
that  the  American  Ships  are  more  than  a  League  from  Shore 
when  Boarded —  I  added  my  opinion  that  a  small  relaxation  in 
boarding  and  impressment  would  in  my  opinion  be  politic. — 
It  is  whispered,  and  I  have  reason  to  suspect  it,  that  the  two 
French  Frigates  will  attempt  their  escape  in  a  few  days. 

The  Editor  of  the  American  Citizen  has  made  a  violent  at 
tack  upon  the  President  of  the  Marine  insurance  company, 
wherein  he  states  that  that  Gentleman  had  written  to  you  on 
the  Subject  of  French  Privateers  being  on  the  American 
coasts,  and  in  consequence  of  his  representations  our  Ships  of 
war  had  been  sent  hither.1  This  we  know  to  be  false  —  But 
he  has  learnt  from  a  confidential  person,  that  you  shewed  to  Mr 
Galatin  my  letter  of  the  12th  of  May,  wherein  I  informed  you 

1  The  article  appeared  in  the  Citi-  by  Mr.  Merry  himself.  As  the  Rev- 

zen  of  August  22.  The  following  olution  which  severed  the  colonies 

extracts  exhibit  the  substance  of  from  the  crown  of  Great  Britain 

Cheetham's  attack :  never  altered,  as  we  are  informed, 

Mr.  Neilsou's  attachment  to  it,  Mr. 

"  THE  LEANDER  &  Co.  Merry  could  not  but  comply  with  his 

"It  is  communicated  to  me  by  request toprotectAmericanCommerce, 
good  authority  that  Mr.  William  and  accordingly  the  Cambrian  and 
Neilson  Sen.  of  this  city,  merchant  the  Driver,  the  Boston  and  the  Lean- 
wrote  to  Mr.  Merry  immediately  der  were  graciously  sent  for  that 
after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  re-  purpose.  .  .  .  They  have  exhibited 
questing  him  to  order  a  naval  force  their  protecting  care  over  our  corn- 
off  the  Hook,  to  protect  American  merce,  in  the  capture  of  our  vessels, 
Commerce.  It  is  added  that  Mr.  the  violation  of  our  territory,  the 
Neilson's  letter  is  now  in  the  hands  maltreatment  of  our  fellow  citi- 
of  the  Sec.  of  State  communicated  zens." 


190  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

that  I  had  that  day  received  a  letter  from  the  President  of  the 
Marine  insurance  Company  in  this  City,  stating  a  French 
Crnizer  being  off  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  committing 
depredations  on  British  and  American  Ships :  and  that  I  had 
notified  Captain  Douglas  of  it. —  Mr  Galatin  has  communicated 
this  to  several  persons,  and  probably  to  the  Editor  of  the  Citi 
zen,  and  by  this  means  a  shameful  use  has  been  made  of  that 
which  was  honorably  and  prudently  intended,  and  the  unfair 
conclusion  has  been  drawn  that  on  this  information  you  ap 
plied  to  the  Admiral  for  the  Ships  now  off  this  port,  and  that 
the  present  blockade  of  this  port  is  owing  to  Mr  Neilson  the 
President  of  the  Marine  insurance  office.  You  will  do  me  a 
favor  by  acquainting  me  with  what  passed  between  you  and 
Mr  Galatin,  and  whether  you  showed  him  the  letter. 

As  my  proposed  ride  to  Philadelphia  was  intended  as  a  visit 
of  respect  and  regard  to  you  and  Mrs  Merry,  I  shall  postpone 
it  until  I  am  informed  you  are  recovered  —  I  sincerely  hope 
soon  to  hear  this  from  you.  Present  my  best  respects  to  Mrs 
Merry.  I  wish  you  was  farther  Northward  where  the  air  is 
more  cool,  and  the  country  more  pleasant. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  ANDREW   MITCHELL. 

New  York  25th  August  1804. 
SIR. 

Captain  Bradley  and  Captain  Skene  (particularly  the  latter) 
having  written  to  you  fully  by  this  Conveyance  renders  it  un 
necessary  for  me  to  state  any  thing  further  either  respecting 
the  Eugenia  or  the  little  Cornelia.  They  are  both  very  morti 
fying  circumstances  to  me ;  and  I  have  in  a  private  letter  to 
Captain  Skene  recommended  while  off  this  place  in  the  event 
of  ordering  a  Vessel  to  Halifax  for  examination  to  send  only 
their  Master  or  Mate  in  her,  and  to  forward  the  two  other  prin 
cipal  Officers  of  the  Vessel  by  the  first  private  conveyance. 
This  measure  might  be  attended  with  an  Expense  of  fifty  to 
an  hundred  dollars,  but  what  is  that  to  insure  the  safe  arrival 
of  the  Vessel. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1803-1804  191 

It  is  rather  singular  Mr  Merry  and  myself  should  differ  in 
opinion  on  the  only  two  questions  of  moment  that  have  oc 
curred  since  the  arrival  of  His  Majesty's  Ships  off  Port. —  In 
the  case  of  the  Ship  Pitt,  Mr  Merry  appears  to  have  been 
rather  in  doubt  that  the  Conduct  of  the  officers  of  the  Cam 
brian  amounted  to  an  infraction  of  Neutral  Rights. —  On  that 
point  I  am  most  clear,  notwithstanding  the  tacit  consent  of 
Portugal  Hamburgh  &c  &c  &c  in  similar  cases.  Their  suffer 
ing  British  Ships  of  War  to  impress  British  Seamen  in  their 
ports  can  never  alter  the  old  established  Laws  of  Nations,  or 
take  away  the  rights  of  other  neutral  powers. —  In  the  regain 
ing  possession  of  the  Eugenia  by  violence  and  recruiting  an 
armed  Body  of  Men  on  shore  for  that  purpose,  Mr  Merry  ap 
pears  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  an  Act  that  will  admit  of  a  re 
monstrance  —  There  again  I  am  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  of  a 
contrary  opinion,  which  I  have  stated  to  him  at  large  with  my 
reasons. 

I  have  notified  Capt.  Bradley  of  the  probability  of  the 
French  Frigates  attempting  their  escape  either  through  the 
Sound  or  by  the  Hook :  If  the  latter  they  will  wait  the  first 
fresh  Gale  from  the  N  W  and  I  have  cautioned  him  to  keep 
well  to  the  Northward  of  Sandy  Hook,  so  to  have  the  Bay 
open  to  him  up  to  the  Narrows,  that  he  may  see  the  Ships 
coming  down,  and  be  ready  to  meet  them,  because  in  less  than 
two  hours  from  their  getting  under  way  they  will  be  at  Sea 
and  if  our  Ships  run  to  the  Southward  of  the  Hook  they  will 
be  to  leeward  and  never  overtake  them. 

I  am  sorry  to  acquaint  you  that  Mr  Merry  has  had  two  or 
three  very  disagreeable  attacks,  which  entre  nous,  are  evi 
dently  apoplective.  He  is  very  nervous,  and  dejected  weak 
and  almost  incapable  of  doing  Business.  His  Life  I  consider 
very  precarious,  and  I  have  pressed  him  to  permit  me  to  send 
for  Mr.  Chipman  the  Solicitor  General  of  New  Brunswick  to 
assist  him  until  his  Health,  if  ever  is  re-established.  Mr. 
Chipman  is  the  best  qualified  Character  in  this  State. 

In  one  of  my  last  letters  I  mentioned  Samuel  Billings  an 
American  Seaman  who  had  been  sent  in  a  prize  to  Halifax  — 
Captain  Bradley  told  me  he  would  be  discharged  there  by  you, 


192        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

and  I  requested  you  that  he  might,  as  he  has  been  unequiv 
ocally  proved  to  be  a  native  American — If  he  has  not  been 
discharged  when  you  receive  this  I  intreat  he  may  as  I  stand 
pledged  that  he  will  be. 


TO    MR.  MERRY. 

New  York  30th  August  1804. 
SIR. 

I  did  myself  the  Honor  yesterday  to  communicate  to  you  in 
a  private  letter  that  the  French  Frigates  Sybil  and  Didon,  had 
about  6  of  the  clock  in  the  morning  of  that  day  got  under  way 
and  proceeded  towards  Sandy  Hook.  The  Wind  being  light 
and  part  of  the  tide  expended  before  they  were  in  motion  pre 
vented  their  getting  farther  than  Gravesend  Bay,  distant 
about  eleven  miles  from  this  city  where  they  came  to  an 
anchor  and  where  they  remained  at  dark  last  Evening — As 
the  Ebb  made  very  early  this  morning,  boats  have  been  pre 
vented  getting  up,  so  that  we  remain  ignorant  whether  they 
remain  at  Gravesend  or  have  gone  to  the  Hook  with  the  morn 
ing  tide  —  It  is  more  than  probable  I  shall  hear  before  this 
letter  goes  to  the  Post  Office.  The  best  opinion  I  can  form, 
is  that  these  ships  will  attempt  getting  to  Sea  the  first  favor 
able  moment,  when  our  Ships  are  to  leeward  to  this  port. 


TO   WILLIAM   NEILSON.1 

New  York  7th  September  1804. 
SIR. 

I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  yesterday,  and  in 
compliance  with  your  request  inclose  a  Copy  of  the  letter  you 
wrote  me  on  the  11th  of  May  last  as  President  of  the  Marine 

1  The  American  Citizen  renewed    was  intended  to  afford  an  answer 
its  attacks  on  Mr.  Neilson  on  August    to  these  articles. 
28  and  September  5.   Barclay's  letter 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  193 

Insurance  Company  —  Having  seen  an  Extract  of  my  letter  to 
the  Mayor  of  this  City  of  the  18th  of  June  published  in  the 
American  Citizen,  I  was  induced  to  examine  that  letter,  as 
well  as  the  one  you  wrote  to  me,  and  I  find  that  in  giving  my 
reasons  to  the  Mayor,  for  apprehending  it  would  not  be  in  the 
power  of  the  Commander  of  His  Majesty's  Ships  of  "War  to 
comply  with  his  request,  I  have  been  guilty  of  a  mistake,  in 
stating  to  him  that  your  letter  to  me,  expressed  the  American 
as  well  as  British  Commerce  —  My  recital  to  the  Mayor  was 
from  Memory,  and  not  from  a  reference  to  your  letter.  I  am 
extremely  sorry  for  having  unguardedly  made  use  of  two 
words  not  in  your  letter,  and  can  only  account  for  it  on  this  prin 
ciple,  that  the  Newspapers  at  that  time  contained  information 
of  several  American,  as  well  as  British  Vessels  having  been 
captured  to  the  Southward  by  French  Privateers,  and  from 
my  mind  being  impressed  with  these  reports,  led  me,  when 
I  wrote  to  the  Mayor  to  suppose  it  was  so  expressed  in  your 
letter. 

I  have  never  received  any  other  letter  from  you  than  the 
one  herein  mentioned. 


TO  MR.  MERRY. 

New  York  13  Septr  1804. 
•SIR. 

I  did  not  receive  satisfactory  proof  that  Jerome  Bonaparte 
and  his  Lady  were  still  in  these  States  until  last  Evening. 
Two  days  since  Mr  Wood  told  me  that  on  the  5th  Instant  he 
had  met  them  in  a  common  stage  coach  near  Trenton  ;  but  so 
universally  was  his,  and  his  Wife's  departure  credited  in  this 
place,  that  I  apprehended  Mr  Wood  had  made  a  mistake.  In 
addition  to  every  other  report,  a  confidential  man  assured  me 
he  saw  her  in  a  Barge  with  Monsieur  Du  Pont  the  French 
agent  going  from  Staten  Island  to  the  Ship  that  General  Arm 
strong  was  in.  I  also  knew  to  a  certainty  that  Mr  Du  Pont 
had  borrowed  money  from  a  gentleman  for  the  express  pur- 

13 


194        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

pose  of  an  advance  to  Bonaparte  at  his  departure.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  every  thing  was  arranged  for  their  (especi 
ally  his  Ladys)  going  to  Bordeaux  in  the  Thomas,  and  I  can 
not  but  believe  that  General  Armstrong  must  have  had  some 
knowledge  of  it. — As  the  Thomas  passed  Staten  Island  Mr  Du 
Pont  and  Mrs  Bonaparte  in  a  Barge  attempted  to  gain  the  Ship, 
but  no  notice  was  taken  of  them,  nor  would  the  Captain  heave 
the  Ship  too  for  them,  I  cannot  learn  whether  Jerome  Bona 
parte  was  in  the  Barge  —  Mr  Du  Pont  has  since  mentioned  his 
and  their  disappointment  and  insinuated  that  they  had  been 
unhandsomely  treated. — The  Gentleman  who  lent  Mr  Du  Pont 
the  money,  mentioned  yesterday  to  a  friend,  who  I  requested 
to  interrogate  him,  the  above  particulars. —  I  have  it  also  from 
another  person  to  the  same  effect.1  —  The  Didon  will  attempt 
her  escape  the  first  favorable  moment.  Pilots  are  engaged  for 
the  Sound  as  well  as  Sandy  Hook.  Captain  Bradley  although 
satisfied  of  the  necessity  appears  unwilling  to  incur  the  ex 
pense  of  keeping  a  boat  on  pay  at  Gravesend  to  give  him  no 
tice  if  she  attempts  a  passage  through  the  Sound.  This  in  my 
opinion  is  necessary,  because  the  same  Wind  and  Tide  which 
carries  the  Didon  through  Hell  Gate  and  the  Sound,  will  pre 
vent  a  boat  getting  to  Captain  Bradley,  and  give  the  Didon  at 
least  nine  hours  start.  Whereas  a  boat  stationed  at  Grave - 
send,  in  one  hour  after  the  Didon  got  under  way,  would  leave 

1  Barclay  was  correctly  informed,  going  with  an  Ambassador  too  good 

On  September  5,  Mme.  Bonaparte  to  be   missed,  and  Mr.  Bonaparte 

wrote  to  her  father  from  New-York :  was  to  have  gone  in  the  frigates  a 

"  We  have  made  the  journey  here  for  few  days  after  me."    In  October, 

nothing,  as  General  Armstrong,  the  1804,  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  his  wife 

Ambassador,  after   writing  to  Mr.  sailed  from  Philadelphia,  but  were 

Bonaparte  that    he  would  be    de-  wrecked  off  the  Capes  of  the  Dela- 

lighted  at  taking  me  to  France  with  ware  and  returned.     In  November, 

him,  changed  his  mind  and  went  off  they  embarked  in  the  French  frigate 

without  me.      To-morrow  we  are  to  Le  President,  late  Poursuivant ;  but 

leave  this  place  for  Philadelphia,  disembarked  on  learning  of  the  arri- 

and  from  thence  we  go  to  Springfield  val  of  H.  M.  S.  Revolutionnaire  on 

immediately  ;  so  that,  as  I  shall  see  the  coast.    This  ended  their  attempts 

you  soon,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  for  the  winter.     In  December  they 

more.    I  thought  the  opportunity  of  were  in  Washington. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  195 

that  for  His  Majesty s  Ships.  I  have  no  authority  to  employ 
such  a  Boat,  unless  you  think  proper  to  order  it  —  The  Syble 
it  is  said  will  remain  here  until  our  Ships  are  compelled  to 
leave  the  coast;  perhaps  this  is  mere  report. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  A.   MITCHELL. 

New  York  22d  Septr  1804. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

Through  the  intervention  of  a  friend  of  Mr  Pichon  and 
mine,  I  have  this  day  requested  you  would  send  him  any 
private  familiar  letters  of  his  which  may  have  been  forwarded 
to  you  from  Capt8  Bradley  or  Skene  —  and  informed  you  that 
he  would  consider  himself  under  an  obligation  if  you  feel 
yourself  at  liberty  to  favor  him  with  copies  of  his  official  let 
ters,  which  were  taken  on  board  the  Eugenia  or  little  Corne 
lia,  provided  they  contained  nothing  which  can  injure  His 
Majesty  s  Service  —  This  last  request  I  should  not  have  made, 
had  not  Captain  Skene  informed  me  of  the  Contents  of  those 
letters,  and  that  they  merely  respected  Jerome  Bonaparte 
going  home  —  I  am  satisfied  had  Mr  Pichon  received  those  let 
ters  in  Season,  Jerome  would  before  this  have  embarked  on 
board  one  of  the  Frigates,  and  attempted  his  Escape  from 
your  Ships :  and  I  am  further  of  opinion  that  Mr  Pichon  will 
hurry  him  off  on  receiving  official  copies  of  them.1  —  The  Cam 
brian  and  Leander  are  now  within  the  Hook,  to  avoid  the  ef 
fects  of  an  equinoctial  Gale  and  to  complete  their  Water. 

l  The  official  letters  referred  to  The  letters  are  dated  the  30th  Ger- 

were  written  by  Decres,  the  French  minal  in  the  year  XII (April  19, 1804). 

Minister  of  Marine,  to  Pichon  and  Translations  are  printed  with  other 

Jerome  Bonaparte,   conveying  the  original  documents,  in  an  otherwise 

orders  of  the  First  Consul  for  Je-  worthless  little  book,  "  The  Bona- 

rome's  return,  but  prohibiting  the  parte-Patterson    Marriage,"    Phila- 

coming  of  "  the  young  person  "  with  delphia,  1873. 
whom  he  had  formed  a  connection. 


196  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

The  French  Frigates  remain  moored  near  the  City.  The  Sy- 
ble  has  had  her  ballast  overhauled  and  her  rigging  set,  both 
Ships  have  been  completed  with  Water,  and  their  Coops  filled 
with  Poultry  &c  &c  &c  so  that  every  thing  indicates  an  inten 
tion  of  going  to  Sea  speedily.  Hell  Gate  (the  only  difficult 
part  of  the  navigation  through  the  Sound)  has  been  repeatedly 
examined  by  the  officers  of  their  Ships,  and  Pilots  have  been 
examined  as  to  the  feasibility  of  taking  them  through  and  or 
dered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  —  still  I  have  it  from  un 
questionable  authority  that  they  do  not  intend  going  to  Sea 
that  way,  but  will  barely  make  the  attempt,  a  ruse  de  guerre, 
in  the  hope  that  Captain  Bradley  on  hearing  that  one  of  them 
has  gone  up,  will  send  one  of  his  Ships  to  the  East  end  of 
Long  Island  to  intercept  her ;  in  which  case  the  french  Frigate 
will  return  and  both  Ships  put  to  Sea.  The  truth  is,  that  what 
they  intend  as  a  feint,  ought  in  reality  to  be  carried  into  effect. 
By  sending  one  of  the  French  Ships  to  New  Port  Rhode  Is 
land  Cap*  Bradley  must  have  detached  the  Leander  or  Cam 
brian  to  watch  her  motions.  If  the  Leander  was  the  Ship, 
the  French  Frigate  might  easily  escape,  and  if  the  Cambrian 
went  off  Rhode  Island,  then  the  Ship  here  might  put  to  Sea — 
all  they  aim  at  present  is  to  get  Bonaparte  off  in  either  Ship. 
From  receiving  their  complement  of  Provisions  and  Water 
the  French  Frigates  swim  very  deep  —  The  Syble  draws 
twenty  four  feet  Water  —  I  have  had  private  information,  but 
on  which  no  dependance  can  be  placed,  because  the  man  is  a 
Stranger  to  me,  and  I  have  reason  to  suspect  him  to  be  a  spy, 
and  treat  him  accordingly,  until  I  am  satisfied  he  is  the  re 
verse,  that  both  the  Ships  are  to  remain  where  they  are  until 
our  Ships  retire,  and  that  the  Commodore  will  embark  for 
France  next  week  in  a  Merchant  Ship  —  Time  will  develop 
this,  and  if  the  report  proves  true,  induce  me  hereafter  to  af 
ford  to  this  man  a  grain  more  of  credibility ;  I  however  very 
much  doubt  my  being  authorized  to  place  confidence  in  him. 
I  say  enough  when  I  add  that  he  is  a  Dutch  Jew,  who  has 
travelled  over  the  Globe,  knows  every  Body  and  every  thing. 
— If  he  was  honest,  he  would  be  serviceable  as  he  daily  visits 
the  French  Ships. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  197 

TO   CAPTAIN  BRADLEY. 

New  York  31st  Octr  1804. 

You  have  noticed  from  the  papers  that  a  french  Frigate  is 
expected  here  from  France,  which  report  is  confirmed  to  me 
this  day  by  Mr  Merry.  I  have  reason  to  believe  she  was  yes 
terday  off  this  port  and  communicated  with  one  of  the  pilot 
boats.  The  French  Chancellor  mentioned  this  last  Evening 
and  the  Gentleman  to  whom  he  stated  it  came  and  told  me  of 
it.  White  the  pilot  (who  it  appears  is  about  to  be  turned  out 
of  his  boat)  came  this  morning  to  Peacock  and  told  him,  that 
both  the  French  Frigates  had  taken  Williams  and  Minugh  and 
two  Hell  Gate  Pilots  on  board,  and  would  certainly  pass 
through  Hell  Gate  the  first  fair  wind.  You  will  therefore 
take  your  measures  accordingly  —  It  is  added  by  White  that 
the  french  frigates  will  go  through  this  next  flood  if  the  wind 
will  admit,  and  that  you  cannot  go  out  until  next  tide  —  Per 
haps  the  whole  may  be  a  finesse  to  put  you  out. 

What  fortifies  me  in  the  Idea  that  they  are  on  the  wing,  is 
that  they  have  lately  had  a  press-gang  on  Shore,  who  took  off 
six  men  that  came  to  my  knowledge  and  perhaps  many  more  — 
Four  of  them  they  have  been  compelled  to  restore,  and  meas 
ures  are  taking  for  the  other  two  —  I  wait  only  until  matters 
are  ripe  to  develope  this  act  of  violence  to  the  public  — I  send 
this  by  an  express,  that  you  may  be  ready  at  a  moment— Rely 
on  my  attention. 


TO   CAPTAIN  BRADLEY. 

New  York  3rd  November  1804. 
Sill. 

By  Bushat  at  12  OClock  A  M  this  morning  I  received  your 
three  letters  of  yesterday  and  I  am  happy  to  learn  from  my 
Son  that  he  saw  both  your  ships  out  at  day  light  this  morn 
ing  —  The  Breeze  is  light  and  favorable  and  I  hope  you  will 
be  at  Montock  Point  in  time  to  intercept  them.  It  is  said 

13* 


198       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

both  French  ships  touched  in  going  through,  &  that  they  an 
chored  last  night,  but  this  is  not  confirmed. 

Both  Bushat  and  myself  have  been  all  over  to  hire  a  dispatch 
Boat  but  without  success.  At  day  Break  I  was  on  Long  Is 
land  to  procure  one  of  the  Block  Island  fishing  Boats  and  of 
fered  three  hundred  dollars  per  Week  to  go  and  communicate 
with  you.  The  men  refused  and  said  no  money  would  induce 
them,  as  they  could  never  again  return  to  New  York.  I  am 
convinced  every  boat  has  been  bribed,  or  threatened  not  to  go. 

Bushat  therefore  goes  himself  in  his  own  boat  —  He  and 
Stevenson  have  been  unremitted  in  their  exertions  and  merit 
everything  from  us ;  should  I  learn  anything  of  moment  I  will 
give  it  to  you.  If  you  once  get  sight  of  these  ships,  keep  it, 
go  where  they  will. 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL   SIE  A.   MITCHELL. 

New  York  7  Novr  1804. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  you  that  the  French  Frigates 
Didon  and  Cyble,  proceeded  through  Hell  Gate  for  Sea  at  half 
past  four  P  M  on  the  2d  of  this  month,  with  a  fair  Wind,  and 
from  the  best  accounts  yet  received,  they  were  seen  on  Satur 
day  l  at  5  O  Clock  P  M  between  Block  and  Long  Island  stand 
ing  to  Sea  —  It  was  then  nearly  calm  and  continued  so  all  night 
early  Sunday  Morning  the  Wind  was  from  the  S  E,  light  airs 
and  thick  foggy  Weather  —  on  Monday  Morning  at  2  o  Clock 
A  M  the  Wind  came  round  to  N  N  West  and  blowed  fresh  — 

Captain  Bradley  received  notice  from  me  on  the  31st  of  Oc 
tober  of  the  intended  departure  of  those  ships  by  the  way  of 
Hell  Gate,  and  was  kept  constantly  informed  from  that  day 
until  they  sailed  —  There  was  reason  to  suspect  the  French 
Ships  intended  merely  the  measure  as  a  feint  to  draw  His  Ma 
jesty  s  Ships  to  sea — It  was  therefore  resolved  by  Captain 
Bradley  not  to  proceed  in  pursuit  until  they  had  got  through 
Hell  Gate.  For  this  purpose  I  had  a  confidential  person  posted 

l  November  3d. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  199 

at  Brooklyn  Heights  to  ride  down  to  Gravesend  the  instant  he 
saw  the  French  Ship  beyond  Hell  Gate,  and  to  acquaint  my 
son  with  it,  who  waited  there  to  communicate  by  signal  with 
Captain  Bradley  — At  half  past  five  o  Clock  in  the  Evening 
of  that  day  he  arrived  at  Gravesend,  but  it  was  then  between 
day  light  and  dark  so  that  the  Ensign  hoisted  on  a  flagstaff 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  His  Majesty s  Ships  laying  in 
Sandy  Hook  Bay,  distant  about  twelve  miles  —  Mr  Henry  Bar 
clay  therefore  dispatched  a  boat  to  Captain  Bradley  with  a 
letter  confirming  the  departure  of  the  French  Ships,  and  im 
mediately  lighted  a  fire  the  night  Signal,  the  Captain  of  the 
Packet  by  my  orders  informed  Captain  Bradley  would  be 
made.  The  light  was  observed  on  board  ship,  but  not  so  satis 
factorily  as  to  induce  Cap*  Bradley  to  go  to  Sea  — At  8  o  Clock 
however  the  light  was  distinctly  seen,  and  some  blue  light  also 
which  Cap*  Porteous  of  the  Packet  had  brought  from  the  Cam 
brian,  and  the  boat  from  my  Son  arrived  at  the  same  time  — 
There  was  then  about  two  hours  flood  remaining,  and  I  had 
hoped  His  Majestys  Ships  would  have  gone  out,  as  there  was 
a  very  fine  leading  Wind. 

His  Majestys  Ships  however  did  not  get  under  way  until 
near  day  light  of  the  next  day  (the  3d  of  November),  early  that 
Morning  my  Son  saw  them  standing  to  the  Eastward  with 
every  sail  and  a  leading  but  light  breeze  —  I  dispatched  a 
Schooner  to  watch  the  Enemy  and  communicate  with  His 
Majestys  Ships  off  the  East  end  of  Long  Island  —  We  have 
had  no  report  respecting  either  Ships,  nor  has  the  Pilot  Boat 
which  attended  the  French  Frigates,  or  the  one  by  me  sent  to 
Cap*  Bradley  returned. 

I  fear  there  is  little  probability  of  His  Majestys  Ships  meet 
ing  the  French  Frigates. 


TO   ME.   HAMMOND. 

New  York  9th  Novr  1804. 
SIR. 

I  received  on  the  2d  of  this  month  a  letter  from  William 
Bradley  Esqr  Commanding  His  Majestys  Ship  Cambrian,  on 


200       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  subject  of  his  being  superseded  in  the  command  of  that 
ship  in  consequence  of  my  letter  to  you  of  the  27th  of  June 
last,  and  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty  had  by  order  of 
the  Lords  Commissioners  transmitted  a  copy  of  my  Letter  to 
Vice  Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  Commander  in  Chief  of 
His  Majestys  Ships  of  War  on  the  Halifax  Station,  as  the 
ground  work  of  their  order.1 

I  am  particularly  pained  that  such  serious  consequences 
have  followed  a  detail  of  facts,  by  me  intended  only  for  the 
information  of  His  Majestys  Ministers  —  It  is  true  I  differed 
in  opinion  with  Captain  Bradley  on  his  impressment  of  the 
Men  at  Staten  Island  from  on  board  the  British  Ship  Pitt, 
and  urged  him  to  restore  them  in  which  event  every  other 
complaint  might  have  been  happily  got  over  with  the  Ameri 
can  Government,-  but  Captain  Bradley  could  not  persuade 
himself  that  he  had  acted  improperly,  and  the  situation  His 
Majestys  ships  were  then  in,  expecting  any  moment  to  come 
to  action  with  a  greatly  superior  force  of  the  Enemy,  I  am 
convinced  induced  Captain  Bradley  to  consider  he  was  ad 
vancing  His  Majestys  Service  by  retaining  the  men. 

In  justice  to  Captain  Bradley  I  feel  bound  further  to  state 
that  from  his  arrival  with  His  Majestys  Ships  in  June  last  to 
their  departure  on  the  third  of  this  month,  I  know  not  an  in 
stance  (save  the  one  before  mentioned)  in  which  blame  can 
attach  to  him,  on  any  of  the  complaints  which  may  have  been 
made  by  the  American  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  subject  of 
impressment  of  men,  breach  of  neutrality,  or  infringing  the 
Limits  of  American  Jurisdiction.  The  zeal  and  unwearied 
attention  with  which  he  has  supported  a  tedious  and  difficult 

1  On  the  first  of  September,  Lord  from  our  Government,  it  could  not  be 

Harrowby    informed    Mr.    Monroe  viewed  otherwise  than  as  a  strong 

that  the  British  Government  had  dis-  proof  of  the  desire  of  His  Majesty  to 

approved  Captain  Bradley's  conduct  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  United 

and  censured  it  by  removing  him  States ;  to  which  I  readily  assented." 

from  the  command  and  ordering  him  A  year  later  Monroe  learned  that 

home  to  account  for  it.     Lord  Har-  Captain  Bradley  had  been  appointed, 

rowby  said,  adds  Mr.  Monroe,  "  that  immediately  on  his  return,  to  the 

as  this  step  had  been  taken  before  command  of  a  ship  of  the  line.  Amer. 

any  complaint  had  been    received  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Ill,  90,  100. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1803-1804  201 

blockade  of  five  months,  are  proofs  of  his  merit  as  a  Seaman 
and  an  officer.  I  have  the  utmost  respect  for  him,  and  will 
consider  myself  under  an  obligation  by  your  acquainting  the 
Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty,  that  my  letter  of  the 
27th  of  June  was  not  intended  by  any  means  as  a  complaint 
against  Captain  Bradley,  but  for  the  information  of  His  Ma- 
jestys  Ministers,  that  they  might  be  possessed  of  the  facts, 
whenever  a  representation  was  made  by  the  American  Gov 
ernment. 


TO   MK.   MERRY. 

New  York  10  Novr  1804. 
SIR. 

I  yesterday  by  the  return  of  the  dispatch  Boat,  received  a 
letter  from  Captain  Bradley  the  officer  commanding  His  Ma 
jestys  Ships  Cambrian  and  Leander  dated  at  Sea  the  7th  In 
stant,  wherein  he  informs  me  that  he  arrived  at  ten  0  Clock 
on  the  night  of  the  third  instant  off  the  East  End  of  Long  Is 
land,  but  that  the  weather  was  so  very  thick,  that  they  could 
not  see  twice  the  length  of  the  Ship,  and  that  during  the  prev 
alence  of  this  fogg  the  Enemy  had  passed  him.  He  had 
therefore  resolved  to  proceed  immediately  to  Halifax  Nova 
Scotia  with  both  Ships.1 

I  cannot  but  regret  that  His  Majestys  Ships  did  not  go  to 
Sea,  from  six  in  the  Evening  of  the  2d  until  10  oClock  that 
night  during  all  which  time  the  signal  fire,  which  I  had  in 
formed  Captain  Bradley  would  be  lighted  when  the  Enemy 
had  passed  Hell  Gate,  was  burning,  and  seen  from  the  Ships. 
At  8  oClock  that  night  Captain  Bradley  received  a  letter 
from  Mr  Barclay  my  Son,  at  the  Signal  Port,  giving  him  no 
tice  of  the  departure  of  the  French  Ships,  at  which  time,  there 
was  yet  near  two  hours  flood  tide.  Had  he  then  proceeded 
His  Majestys  Ships  would  have  doubled  Montock  point,  the 
East  End  of  Long  Island,  before  sunset  on  Saturday,  and  as 

1  The  French  ships  reached  L'Or-  sailed  on  a  Friday.  Was  Bradley's 
ient  in  December,  after  a  fine  pas-  failure  to  start  promptly  in  pursuit 
sage,  and  this  in  spite  of  their  having  due  to  superstition  ? 


202       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  weather  was  then  clear  must  have  seen  the  Enemys  ships. 
From  Captain  Bradleys  letter  it  appears,  the  pilot  of  the  Cam 
brian  made  some  demur  about  taking  the  Ship  out  at  night, 
but  I  understand  from  Captain  Skene  of  the  Leander,  that  his 
Pilot  was  not  only  ready  to  carry  her  over  the  Bar,  but  return 
and  conduct  the  Cambrian  also. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806 

FBOM  June  18  to  November  3, 1804,  the  port  of  New- 
York  had  been  practically  blockaded  by  the  little 
British  squadron  which  had  been  kept  to  watch  the 
Didon  and  Oybele.  Barclay's  correspondence  shows,  be 
yond  a  doubt,  that  the  original  purpose  of  their  visit  was 
purely  military,  and  therefore  perfectly  legitimate ;  but 
they  improved  the  occasion  by  inflicting  injuries  and 
insults  upon  the  commerce  of  a  neutral  port — one  can 
hardly  describe  it  as  a  friendly  one — which  are  almost 
past  belief.  Basil  Hall's  account  of  his  service  as  a  mid 
shipman  aboard  the  Leander  in  this  summer  of  1804  is 
well  known.  "  Every  morning  at  daybreak,"  he  writes, 
"  we  set  about  arresting  the  progress  of  all  the  vessels 
we  saw,  firing  off  guns  to  the  right  and  left  to  make 
every  ship  that  was  running  in  heave  to,  or  wait  until 
we  had  leisure  to  send  a  boat  on  board  i  to  see,7  in  our 
lingo,  'what  she  was  made  of.'  I  have  frequently 
known  a  dozen,  and  sometimes  a  couple  of  dozen,  ships 
lying  a  league  or  two  off  the  port,  losing  their  fair  wind, 
their  tide,  and  worse  than  all  their  market,  for  many 
hours,  sometimes  the  whole  day,  before  our  search  was 
completed."1  The  search  might  result  in  ordering  off 
the  vessel  to  Halifax  for  adjudication,  and  it  almost  in 
variably  did  result  in  adding  two  or  three  likely  men 
to  the  crew  aboard  his  Majesty's  ship.  The  guesses  or 

1  Fragments  of  Voyages  and  Travels,  Chap.  V. 

203 


204        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

suspicions  of  British  lieutenants  as  to  the  true  owner 
ship  of  goods,  or  the  nationality  of  a  seaman,  were  prac 
tically  decisive;  for  redress  came  but  seldom,  and  it 
almost  always  came  too  late.  The  sense  of  wrong  felt 
by  ship-owners  and  mariners  was  immensely  aggravated 
by  the  circumstance  that  all  this  was  taking  place  in 
full  sight  of  American  soil,  and  probably  in  many  in 
stances  within  American  jurisdiction. 

But  now,  for  a  time,  the  annoyance  of  a  blockade 
was  over;  and,  indeed,  it  was  never  renewed  in  any 
time  of  peace  for  more  than  a  very  brief  period.  The 
chorus  of  complaints  in  regard  to  "  impressment  within 
American  waters,  maltreatment,  and  imprudent  expres 
sions"  had  produced  its  effect  even  on  the  minds  of 
British  naval  officers.  Since  the  latter  part  of  August 
they  had  exhibited  little  activity.  During  September 
and  October  the  Leander  and  Cambrian  had,  for  the 
most  part,  been  lying  snugly  at  anchor  within  the  Hook, 
partly  because  of  protests  and  remonstrances,  and  partly 
because  the  advancing  season  greatly  multiplied  the 
difficulties  of  an  effective  blockade. 

The  coasts  of  New  Jersey  and  Long  Island  trend 
away  to  the  southward  and  eastward,  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  and  deep  water  is  generally  to 
be  found  close  inshore.  A  wide  opening  and  a  broad 
stretch  of  sea  was  thus  left  to  be  patroled  by  vessels 
that  watched  outside  the  bar;  and  if  the  British 
cruisers  were  strictly  to  observe  American  neutral 
ity,  and  confine  their  efforts  to  points  distant  three 
miles  from  either  shore,  the  task  of  intercepting  vessels 
that  chose  to  hug  the  beaches  became  almost  hopeless. 
The  longer  nights  and  stormier  weather  of  autumn  also 
greatly  facilitated  the  escape  of  outward-bound  ships, 
whether  American  traders  or  French  frigates.  No 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1804-1806  205 

square-rigged  vessel  could  safely  keep  her  station  close 
outside  the  bar  of  New- York,  in  an  easterly  gale,  so  as 
to  intercept  all  incoming  vessels;  and  the  northwest 
erly  gales  of  winter  would  prevent  her  from  lying  to 
under  canvas,  a  league  or  more  offshore,  in  such  a  po 
sition  as  to  arrest  vessels  who  had  the  choice  of  running 
out  either  to  the  southward  or  eastward. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  French  frigates  had  sailed, 
the  English  gave  up  their  watch  on  the  port.  For 
many  months  there  was  no  further  serious  cause  of 
complaint.  But  the  reckless  proceedings  of  the  summer 
of  1804  had  not  been  forgotten,  and  they  were  to  bear 
bitter  fruit  in  the  increasing  ill-will  with  which  the 
American  people  regarded  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain. 

All  through  the  year  1805,  while  the  great  strategic 
movements  which  culminated  at  Trafalgar  were  going 
on  in  other  waters,  British  squadrons  had  ample  occu 
pation  elsewhere.  In  the  month  of  June  the  Cambrian 
and  Leander  were  once  more  for  a  few  days  off  New- 
York,  accompanied  by  the  sloop-of-war  Busy ;  but, 
with  this  exception,  there  were  only  brief  visits  from 
single  ships.  The  Bevolutionnaire  called  for  Spanish 
dollars  on  February  3 ;  the  Busy  came  from  Bermuda 
on  March  6,  with  despatches,  and  sailed  within  a  week 
for  Halifax;  an  armed  schooner  was  off  Sandy  Hook 
for  a  few  days  in  May ;  the  Indian  arrived  in  August, 
and  the  Cambrian  early  in  November,  remaining  each 
but  a  short  time;  and  the  Busy  called  again  on  De 
cember  6,  with  despatches.  There  was  no  attempt  at 
a  repetition  of  the  blockade  of  1804,  and  the  year  passed 
here  without  special  incident.  American  vessels  were, 
indeed,  searched  and  seamen  impressed,  but  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  there  was,  in  1805,  any- 


206       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

thing  like  a  continuous  watch  kept  by  the  British  upon 
the  commerce  of  this  port.1 

In  the  spring  of  1806,  the  Cambrian  and  Leander 
a  third  time  appeared  off  Sandy  Hook,  this  time  in 
company  with  the  sloop-of-war  Driver.  Their  unwel 
come  presence  was  tragically  signalized  by  the  killing 
of  an  American  citizen  by  a  shot  from  the  Leander, 
and  their  visit  was  brought  to  a  sudden  end. 

Meanwhile,  during  these  years  of  1805  and  1806,  Bar 
clay's  domestic  affairs  were  prosperous.  Henry,  his 
eldest  son,  entered  into  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Henry 
C.  Eumsey,  "  a  wholesale  Silk  mercer."  De  Lancey  left 
the  17th  Dragoons  and  got  a  commission  as  Captain  in 
the  56th  Regiment  of  Foot.  Thomas,  after  serving  in  the 
Boston  and  Impetueux  under  Captain  Douglas,  was  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant,  and  joined  the  North 
umberland  under  Admiral  Cochrane.2  G-eorge  and 
Anthony  were  still  at  school  in  Nova  Scotia. 

One  sad  event  occurred.  Susan,  who  had  married 
Mr.  Stuyvesant  in  the  summer  of  1803,  died  within 
eighteen  months  of  her  marriage,  when  not  quite 
twenty  years  old,  in  her  new  house  in  Partition  (Ful 
ton)  street.  Her  death  threw  a  great  shadow  over  this 
period  of  Barclay's  career;  and  it  made  a  deep  and 
lasting  impression  on  his  mind. 

His  home,  until  the  summer  of  1806,  continued  to  be 
in  New- York,  except  when  the  yellow  fever  again  drove 
him  for  a  few  weeks  into  the  country.  This  time  he 
found  refuge  at  Elizabeth,  in  New  Jersey,  and  he  re- 

1  Into  this  mistake  both  Mr.  Adams  2  De  Lancey  Barclay's  commission 

and  Prof essor  McMaster  have  fallen,  as  Captain  in  H.  M.  Army  bore  date 

Adams's  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  Vol.  Ill,  April  24,  1805  ;   Thomas's  as  Lieu- 

pp.  91,  92 ;  McMaster's  Hist,  of  the  tenant  in  the  navy,  September  11, 

U.  S.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  236,  246.  1805. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  207 

mained  there  from  about  September  12  to  October  22, 
1805.  In  June,  1806,  Barclay  gave  up  his  Greenwich 
street  residence  and  moved  into  the  country,  in  the 
Town  of  Harlaem,  about  seven  miles  from  the  city; 
and  there,  for  the  next  ten  years,  his  family  continued 
to  live.  His  house,  with  its  ten  acres  of  ground,  lay  in 
a  pleasant  suburb  near  the  East  River.  It  was  situated 
on  both  sides  of  the  present  line  of  First  Avenue,  and 
extended  from  about  108th  to  113th  street.  It  cost 
£5500  New- York  currency,  or  $13,750. 

These  two  peaceful  years  in  New- York  were  eventful 
enough  in  the  world's  history.  Jefferson  was  reflected 
President.  Burr's  term  as  Vice-President  ended,  and 
he  fell  to  hatching  his  mad  conspiracy.  Pitt  died.  The 
victories  of  Austerlitz  and  Jena  gave  Napoleon  the  mas 
tery  of  Europe.  The  victory  of  Trafalgar  gave  Eng 
land  the  absolute  control  of  the  sea. 


TO    THE    COLLECTOK,  NAVAL   OFFICER,   AND    SUEVEYOE    OF 
THE  POET   OF   NEW-YOEK. 

New  York  19th  Novr  1804 
GENTLEMEN. 

The  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  having  ordered  Captain  Beres- 
ford  of  the  Royal  Navy  to  proceed  to  America  to  take  the 
command  of  His  Britannic  Majesty s  Ship  of  War  Cambrian, 
Captain  Beresford  in  obedience  to  those  orders  arrived  not 
long  since  at  Norfolk  in  Virginia  in  His  Majesty  s  Ship  of  War 
Eevolutionnaire.  At  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  Norfolk,  the 
Cambrian  was  off  and  on  this  Port,  and  Captain  Beresfords 
baggage  and  Stores  were  put  on  board  an  American  coaster  in 
Hampton  Roads  for  the  purpose  of  being  conveyed  to  the 
Cambrian.  Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  coaster  off  this 
Port,  not  only  the  Cambrian  but  the  Leander  had  sailed  for 


208       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Halifax  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  Captain  Beresfords  Baggage  and 
Stores  in  which  are  included  seven  hogsheads,  one  quarter 
cask  and  thirty  dozen  of  Madeira  Wine,  were  brought  up  to 
this  city,  and  are  now  on  board  the  coaster.  Captain  Beres- 
f ord  wishes  to  have  permission  to  remove  them  from  thence 
on  board  a  schooner  which  he  has  chartered  to  carry  his  bag 
gage  and  stores  to  Halifax,  free  from  the  American  duties  to 
which  the  Wines  have  undoubtedly  become  liable  by  the  un 
expected  departure  of  the  Cambrian.  —  Permit  me  to  request 
you  Gentlemen  will  be  pleased  to  grant  a  permit  for  the  above 
purpose :  The  liberality  of  the  American  Government  I  trust 
will  prevent  an  exaction  of  duties  on  articles  composing  the 
Stores  of  a  naval  officer  casually  arriving  in  transit  within  its 
Jurisdiction.1 


TO   ME.   MEREY. 

New  York  20th  November  1804 
SIR. 

By  this  day's  post  I  have  received  your  No  37,  covering  a 
draft  made  by  G.  Simpson  Cashier  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  on  the  Cashier  of  the  office  of  discount  and  deposit  in 
this  City  in  your  favor  for  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  and  by  you  indorsed  to  me,  also  a  form  of  the  receipt 
I  am  to  take  in  triplicate  on  delivering  the  above  amount  in 
gold  to  Captain  Hotham  Commander  of  His  Majesty's  Ship 
Revolutionnaire  — 

I  have  had  a  confidential  communication  with  the  Cashier 
of  the  office  of  discount  &  deposit  in  this  City,  who  purposes 
if  it  meets  your  approbation  to  pay  the  whole  in  British  and 
Portugal  Gold,  but  by  far  the  greater  proportion  in  British — 
There  is  very  little  French  Gold  in  the  Bank  here. — 

l  Captain  Beresford  did  not  go  to  Beresford   and    his    Madeira  then 

Halifax,  but  remained  in  New-York  joined  her  and  proceeded  at  once 

until  about  December  23,  when  the  to  the  West  Indies. 
Cambrian    arrived    here.      Captain 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  209 

TO  MR.  MEEEY. 

New  York  6th  Decr  1804. 
SIR. 

The  Spanish  and  French  coins,  as  I  have  before  noticed  are 
in  very  good  order,  having  suffered  little  or  no  mutilation,  the 
proportion  of  French  is  very  trifling. —  The  British  Gold  is 
also  tolerabty  good,  the  one  half  at  least  standard  weight,  but 
the  Portugal  Gold  is  abominably  clipped,  sweated,  and  muti 
lated,  and  at  least  one  fourth  part  of  it  consists  of  half  Johan 
nes  made  from  Spanish  Gold,  for  the  West  India  market  or 
plugged  half  Johannes. —  These  are  returned  and  other  good 
gold  given  in  their  place. —  The  selection  of  these  is  difficult 
and  occupies  much  time.  I  however  hope  the  whole  will  be 
examined  and  packed  by  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  next. —  Mr 
Burrell  is  very  polite  and  accommodating. 

I  have  by  two  conveyances  notified  Vice  Admiral  Sir  An 
drew  Mitchell  of  the  arrival  of  the  Poursuivante  (now  called 
the  President)  in  the  Chesepeak  —  and  shall  by  the  next  op 
portunity  acquaint  him  with  Captain  Hothams  situation. — 
Captain  Beresford  who  is  still  here,  has  requested  the  Admiral 
to  send  the  Cambrian  to  this  place  for  him,  and  also  notified 
him  of  the  Poursuivante :  he  tells  me  he  expects  her  here  in 
the  course  of  a  few  days. 


TO   MRS.   MARGARET  DE  LANCEY. 

New  York  31  Janr  1805. 
DEAR  MADAM. 

The  inclosed  letter  I  received  yesterday  from  the  Attorney 
employed  to  collect  the  Debts  due  the  late  General  Hamilton, 
who  I  retained  as  your  Counsel  against  this  State. —  This  charge 
stands  in  the  Generals  books  in  addition  to  the  hundred  dol 
lars  originally  paid  him  by  me ;  and  of  course  ought  to  be  paid. 
I  have  therefore  discharged  it,  and  will  thank  you  to  pay  my 
draft  in  favor  of  Messrs.  Brook  Watson  &  Co :  for  that  amount 
on  you. 
u 


210       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Mrs.  Barclay,  myself  and  family,  are  in  extreme  distress  by 
the  death  of  my  lovely  and  most  amiable  daughter  Mrs.  Stuy- 
vesant  who  died  on  the  14  of  this  month  —  She  had  not  yet  at 
tained  her  twentieth  year. —  I  do  not  say  too  much  when  I  add 
that  she  was  in  mind  and  appearance  one  of  the  first  of  Wo 
men,  and  in  duty  and  affection  the  best  of  Children. —  You 
my  dear  Madam  can  and  I  am  sure  will  feel  for  us. 


TO  JAMES  FAIKLIE,   DEPUTY  MAYOE. 

New  York  7  March  1805. 
SIR. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  day,  on  the  subject  of 
James  Smith,  Richard  Jenkins,  James  Stokely,  James  Bailey, 
James  Wood  worth  and  many  other  Citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  America  composing  the  crew  of  the  American  Ship 
Manhattan  bound  from  Batavia  to  this  Port  having  been  im 
pressed  in  February  last  at  Sea  by  the  Commander  of  His 
Britannic  Majesty s  Sloop  of  War  Busy,  and  that  they  are  un 
lawfully  detained  on  board  the  said  Sloop  now  in  this  Har 
bour  ;  and  that  these  facts  have  been  verified  to  you  under 
oath.1 

Permit  me  to  assure  you  that  it  is  not  only  contrary  to  the 
orders  of  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  to  impress,  but  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Commanders  of  His  Majesty  s  Ships  of  War  to 
detain  an  American  Seaman.  But  it  is  a  fact  too  notorious 
to  have  escaped  your  knowledge,  that  many  of  His  Majestys 
Subjects  are  furnished  with  American  Protection,  to  which 
they  have  no  right  or  title  — 

1  The  Manhattan  belonged  to  Fred-  alleged  ground  that  she  carried  a 

erick  and  Philip  Rhinelander,  and  Dutch  passenger  from  the  Cape  of 

was  chartered  by  Minturn  &  Champ-  Good  Hope.     She  was   sent  in  to 

lin  for  a  voyage  to  Batavia  and  back.  Bermuda,  but  ordered  to  be  restored 

On  her  return,  with  a  cargo  of  sugar,  by  the  Vice-Admiralty  Court.     See 

coffee,  indigo,  and  spices,  she  was  Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Rel.,  Vol. 

captured  by  H.  M.  brig  Busy,  on  the  II,  p.  765. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  211 

Capt  Biam  of  the  British  Sloop  of  War  now  in  this  Port 
has  on  board,  I  believe,  thirteen  men  of  the  Crew  which  sailed 
in  the  Manhattan  from  Batavia,  and  which  he  took  out  of 
that  Ship  when  he  sent  her  to  the  Vice  Court  of  Admiralty  at 
Bermuda  for  adjudication.  There  can  be  no  question  at  pres 
ent  as  to  these  men,  because  the  owners,  or  rather  the  Gen 
tlemen  who  chartered  the  Ship  Messrs  Minturn  and  Champlin 
have  requested  Capt  Biam  to  take  these  men  with  him  to  Ber 
muda,  in  order  that  they  may  navigate  the  Manhattan  from 
thence  to  this  Port  in  the  event  of  her  being  released  by  the 
Vice  Court  of  Admiralty,  which  in  their  and  my  opinion  is 
probable,  although  a  part  of  the  cargo  may  be  condemned  — 
These  men  are  bound  to  perform  the  Voyage,  and  Captain 
Biam  is  equally  bound  to  see  them  forth  coming  if  the  ship  is 
restored  —  under  these  circumstances  you  will  I  trust  be  of 
opinion  that  they  cannot  be  discharged  here  —  Still  Sir  to  in 
sure  the  readiness  of  Captain  Biam  to  comply  with  your  re 
quest —  He  is  willing  in  the  event  of  a  regular  release  to  him 
from  the  owners  of  the  Manhattan,  the  Underwriters  and  the 
freighters  of  that  ship,  to  discharge  forthwith  such  of  the  men 
as  are  bona  fide  Americans. 


TO   ME.   HAMMOND. 

New  York  13th  March  1805. 
SIR. 

By  this  days  southern  mail  I  have  received  information  that 
Jerome  Bonaparte  his  Lady  &  a  female  companion  of  hers, 
with  several  Servants,  will  or  rather  have  embarked  on  board 
the  Ship  Erin  Cap1  Stephenson  ladened  with  flour,  &  was  to 
sail  about  the  10th  Ins*  from  Baltimore  probably  for  Lisbon.1 
The  Erin  sails  very  fast,  &  was  lately  employed  by  the  Span- 

1  The  Erin  sailed  from  Baltimore  dam ;   but  not  being  permitted  to 

on  Marcli  11,  and  arrived  at  Lisbon  land,  went  to  London,  where  her 

safely  on  April  2.  Jerome  Bonaparte  child  was  born  July  7.    She  returned 

there   parted  from   his    wife,   who  with  the  child  to  the  United  States 

sailed  in  the  Erin  again  to  Amster-  in  the  autumn  of  this  year. 


212  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS    BARCLAY 

ish  minister  at  Lisbon  to  carry  dispatches  to  Cuba  &  Porto 
Rico,  from  whence  she  came  to  Baltimore  &  has  been  hastily 
prepared  to  carry  Bonaparte  &  his  family — 

I  have  thought  proper  to  give  you  this  information  in  the 
Event  of  its  being  thought  necessary  by  His  Majesty's  Minis 
ter  to  have  an  attempt  made  to  intercept  him  —  Will  you  do 
me  the  honor  to  lay  the  above  before  Lord  Mulgrave?1 


TO  VICE-ADMIKAL   SIR  JOHN   OKDE/ 

BRITISH   CONSUL   GENERALS   OFFICE 
New  York  13th  March  1805. 

SIR. 

I  have  this  day  received  information,  that  Jerome  Bona 
parte,  Brother  to  the  Emperor,  his  Lady,  a  female  companion 
and  his  domestics,  were  on  the  10th  Instant  to  embark  on 
board  the  Ship  Erin,  Stephenson  Master,  at  Baltimore  for  Lis 
bon  j  but  possibly  for  some  other  European  Port. 

It  is  not  long  since  that  the  Erin  was  chartered  by  the  Span 
ish  Minister  at  Lisbon  to  carry  out  dispatches  to  the  Havan- 
nah  and  Porto  Rico,  having  delivered  them,  she  came  to  Bal 
timore,  where  she  has  taken  a  cargo,  or  part  cargo  of  flour, 
and  has  been  hurried  to  sail  with  all  speed  with  Bonaparte. 

She  is  a  fine  small  Ship,  sails  very  fast,  bright  sides,  white 
bottom,  black  Wales,  yellow  Gun  wale,  dead  eyes  yellow,  no 
bull  work  a  midship,  and  a  figure  head.3 

I  have  thought  it  proper  to  give  you  this  information,  that 
you  may  have  it  in  your  power  to  intercept  them. — 

1  Lord  Mulgrave  had  succeeded  or  so  later  by  H.  M.  S.  Leopard,  and 
Lord  Harrowby  as  Foreign  Secre-  Basil  Hall  put  aboard  of  her  as  prize- 
tary  upon  Addington's  joining  Pitt's  master.     "  I  certainly  never  saw  a 
Ministry,  January  11,  1805.  more  perfect  model  of  a  merchant 

2  Commanding  the  British  Squad-  vessel,"  he  wrote,  "or  one  more  com- 
ron  blockading  Cadiz.  modiously  fitted  up."   Fragments  of 

3  The  Erin  was  captured  a  year  Voyages  and  Travels,  Chap.  xvii. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  213 

TO  ME.   MERRY. 

New  York  18th  March  1805 

The  Collector  of  the  Customs  informed  me  on  Saturday  that 
he  had  not  officially  received  a  copy  of  the  "Act  for  the  more 
"  effectual  preservation  of  Peace  in  the  Ports  and  Harbours  of 
"  the  United  States  and  in  the  Waters  under  their  Jurisdic- 
"  tion  n :  nor  any  rules,  instructions,  orders,  or  directions  for 
the  carrying  the  objects  of  this  act  into  effect  from  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  or  otherwise.1  He  has  assured  me 
that  on  receiving  any  communication  on  this  Subject  he  will 
give  me  the  earliest  notice,  and  permit  me  to  peruse  them,  un 
less  they  are  of  a  nature  not  to  be  divulged  — 

I  shall  take  occasion  from  time  to  time  to  enquire  of  him 
whether  he  has  received  any  instructions,  and  give  you  the 
earliest  notice  of  their  extent  — 

There  will  be  no  conveyance  from  hence  to  Bermuda  in  less 
than  eighteen  or  twenty  days  ;  so  that  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  Vice  Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  with  his  whole  Squad 
ron  will  have  left  that  place  for  the  Season,  before  your  letter 
for  him  arrives  —  You  will  have  time  to  give  me  further  direc 
tions  with  respect  to  it.  In  the  interval,  I  shall  by  every  ves 
sel  going  to  the  West  Indies,  write  a  line  addressed  to  the  Ad 
miral  or  any  of  the  Commanders  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  of 
War  and  desire  them  not  to  come  within  Sandy  Hook,  until 
they  first  communicate  with  me.  There  can  be  little  doubt, 

1  This  act  was  approved  March  3,  Marshals,  and  other  officers,  as  to 

1805.     A  brief  summary  of  its  pro-  their  duties  under  this  act.     Mr. 

visions  will  be  found  in  Adams's  Merry's  "inquietude"  with  regard 

Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  Vol.  II,  p.  397.  to  the  clause  of  the  act  permitting 

Among  other  things,  the  act  author-  the  arrest  of  foreign  officers  for  "  any 

ized  the  arrest  of  offenders  against  tort  or  trespass "  on  an  American 

American  laws  when  found  on  board  vessel  on  the  high  seas,  or  "  any  un- 

foreign  armed  vessels,  and  required  lawful  interruption  or  vexation  of 

such  vessels  to  report  to  the  Col-  trading  vessels,"  is  described  in  Mr. 

lector  of  the  port  and  obey  his  di-  Madison's  instructions  to  Mr.  Mon- 

rections ;  and  the  President  was  re-  roe  of  March  6,  1805.    Amer.  State 

quired  to  give,  "  as  soon  as  maybe,"  Papers,  For.  Rel.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  100. 
instructions  to  all  Collectors,  U.  S. 

14* 


214        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

but  one  of  my  letters  will  be  received  in  the  course  of  ten  days 
or  a  fortnight  — 


TO   VICE-ADMIKAL  SIB  ANDKEW  MITCHELL. 

New  York,  25  March  1805 
SIB, 

I  take  it  for  granted  Mr.  Merry  has  mentioned  to  you  the 
very  extraordinary  act  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
with  his  opinion  on  it  —  You  will  perceive  from  the  general 
tenor  of  this  act,  particularly  the  4,  5,  6,  7  and  last  Sections, 
that  it  will  be  hazarding  too  much  to  permit  His  Majesty s 
Ships  of  War  to  enter  any  of  the  American  Ports  until  an  ex 
planation  has  taken  place  between  the  two  Governments  —  By 
several  conveyances  to  the  West  Indies  I  have  addressed  let 
ters  to  you  or  any  of  the  Commanders  of  His  Majestys  Ships 
of  War  advising  them  of  this  act,  and  recommending  the  lay 
ing  off  and  on  an  American  Port  until  you  or  they  communi 
cated  with  His  Majestys  Minister  at  Washington,  or  the  resi 
dent  British  Consul,  where  the  Ship  may  arrive  —  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  inclose  you  the  act,  as  I  have  reason  to  be 
lieve  it  is  not  in  either  of  Mr.  Merry's  letters. 

I  also  inclose  you  this  day's  paper  by  which  you  will  learn 
the  unpleasant  account  of  the  arrival  of  a  French  Squadron  in 
the  West  Indies.1 


TO  JOHN   McKENZIE. 

New  York  2"  April  1805 
DEAE  SIR, 

You  will  naturally  be  surprized  at  my  Silence,  which  has 
even  exceeded  the  limit  I  wished,  but  the  situation  of  my 
mind  for  some  months  past  has  prevented  my  writing  except 
in  cases  of  emergency  ;  and  as  your  cause  before  the  Chancel- 

1  This  was  Missiessy's  squadron,  which  reached  Martinique  February  20. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  215 

lor  was  not  decided  until  Thursday  last  I  deferred  writing 
having  nothing  satisfactory  to  communicate.1 

The  chancellor  has  not  without  difficulty  at  last  decreed 
the  lands  to  me  in  trust  to  be  sold  for  your  benefit.  I 
shall  offer  them  immediately  for  sale,  but  Lands  are  so 
low  and  money  scarce  that  I  fear  they  cannot  be  disposed 
of  to  advantage. 

Mrs.  Barclay,  myself  and  family  are  under  the  deepest 
affliction  for  the  loss  of  my  lovely  and  most  amiable  daughter 
Mrs.  Stuyvesant  who  died  in  January,  and  before  she  had  at 
tained  her  twentieth  year. —  Her  death  was  occasioned  by  a 
premature  delivery  of  her  first  child,  still  born.  She  died  four 
days  after,  but  suffered  inexpressible  pain  —  To  lose  such  a 
child,  with  such  flattering  prospects,  and  in  such  a  manner  is 
more  than  human  nature  can  support  —  "Within  the  short  pe 
riod  of  18  months,  two  most  beloved  children  have  expired  in 
my  arms. —  Parents  never  were  blessed  with  more  dutiful, 
correct  and  every  way  promising  children  —  You  who  are  a 
father  can  and  as  a  friend  I  am  sure  will  feel  for  me  —  God 
grant  you  may  never  taste  of  that  cup  of  which  so  large  a 
portion  has  been  mine. 

When  you  go  up  to  London,  I  wish  you  would  take  occasion 
to  say  to  some  of  the  principal  underwriters  at  Lloyds,  that 
they  are  shamefully  defrauded  in  this  City,  under  the  excuse 
of  an  averaged  loss  upon  damaged  goods  —  That  nothing  is 
more  easy  than  to  procure  the  Port  Wardens  to  mark  the 
goods  as  damaged  —  It  is  the  daily  practise  when  merchandize 
arrives  to  a  bad  market,  or  the  importer  is  in  want  of  cash  — 
the  very  importer  often  buys  them  in  at  50  per  Cent  under 
first  costs  —  If  one  bale  is  injured  ten  others  not  injured  are 
sold  under  the  averaged  loss  —  Every  merchant  of  respectabil- 

i  Mr.  McKenzie  was  a  merchant  Gregorys  trustees ;  but  Munro  dying 

in  England  who  had  a  claim  against  soon  after,  intestate,  the  title  to  the 

the  estate  of  Colonel  McGregor.  Me-  lands  vested  in  his  heirs,  and  the 

Kenzie  authorized  John  Munro,  of  suit  in  question  was  brought  to  have 

New-York,  to  collect  or  settle  the  a  trust  declared  in  respect  to  the 

debt,  which  he  did  by  taking  a  con-  property  and  to  have  a  new  trustee 

veyance  of  certain  lands  from  Me-  appointed. 


216       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ity  in  this  City  speaks  of  the  impositions  practised  on  the 
British  underwriters  —  The  Evil  will  continue  while  there  is 
no  person  authorized  to  counteract  the  conduct  of  the  Port 
Wardens,  and  to  act  as  the  agent  for  the  underwriters.  You 
will  perceive  that  it  is  the  interest  of  the  Port  Wardens  to 
condemn  goods  whenever  they  can,  because  they  receive  two 
per  Cent  on  the  sales,  which  constitutes  the  principal  profits 
of  their  office. 

Do  me  the  favor  to  communicate  this  to  the  Gentlemen  at 
Lloyds  and  to  Mr.  John  Gladstone  and  the  other  merchants 
at  Liverpool. 


TO   CAPTAIN   CHAUNCEY.1 

New  York  2nd  April  1805 
SIR, 

Samuel  Balfour  master  of  the  British  Brig  Culmar  and  Pe 
ter  Brown  master  of  the  British  Ship  Cecilia  have  represented 
to  me  that  an  apprentice  Boy  of  Capt.  Balfour  named  John 
Garnly,  and  an  articled  Boy  of  Capt.  Brown,  named  John 
Hamilton  both  British  Subjects  have  entered  and  now  are  on 
board  the  United  States  Ship  of  War  John  Adams  in  this  Port 
and  under  your  command  —  That  they  have  applied  for  the 
re-delivery  of  their  Boys  and  are  told  by  Lieut.  Maxwell  that 
they  would  not  be  restored  until  all  expenses  were  paid. —  It 
is  unnecessary  for  me  to  make  a  remark  on  the  impropriety  of 
such  an  answer. —  That  the  American  Government  have  a 
right  to  receive  on  board  their  ships  British  Seamen  who  de 
sert  from  British  Ships,  is  a  position  that  can  never  be  main 
tained;  and  it  follows,  that  on  discovery  they  ought  to  be 
restored  —  Permit  me  therefore  to  request  you  will  be  pleased 
to  direct  that  the  Boys  above  mentioned  may  be  delivered  to 

1  Isaac  Chauncey,  at  this  time  before  Tripoli,  and  was  to  attain 
commanding  the  sloop  John  Adams,  wider  distinction  in  the  War  of  1812 
had  already  distinguished  himself  by  his  services  on  Lake  Ontario. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  217 

their  respective  masters,  without  any  charge,  as  that  rule  can 
not  be  admitted :  nor  is  it  ever  practised  in  the  British  Navy  — 
I  am  under  the  necessity  to  acquaint  you  further  that  four 
Boys  have  deserted  from  His  Majesty's  Packet  Queen  Char 
lotte  now  in  this  Port  and  ready  to  sail  to-morrow,  and  that 
they  have  been  entered  on  board  your  Ship.  Be  pleased  to 
inform  me  whether  you  will  deliver  them  to  the  captain  or 
master  of  the  Packet  if  they  wait  on  you  for  that  purpose. 
They  are  assuredly  on  board  your  ship,  the  fact  has  been 
proved  to  me  — 


TO   CAPTAIN   CHAUNCEY. 

New  York  4th  April  1805. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  yesterday  and  beg  your  acceptance  of  my  best  acknowledge 
ments  for  your  ready  compliance  with  my  request — 

I  should  certainly  have  made  my  first  application  to  you  re 
specting  the  British  Seamen,  had  not  Captain  Balfour  of  the 
Culmar  and  Capt.  Brown  of  the  Cecilia  told  me  that  the  offi 
cer  commanding  on  board  the  United  States  Ship  John  Adams 
had  referred  them  to  Lieut.  Maxwell  the  regulating  officer  at 
the  Rendezvous  here  of  that  Ship,  and  that  Lieut.  Maxwell 
had  told  them,  the  men  would  not  be  given  up  until  the  ad 
vance  money  and  all  other  expenses  were  paid.  On  this  in 
formation  I  thought  it  unnecessary  to  apply  to  you,  under  a 
supposition  that  you  were  under  such  orders  from  the  Ameri 
can  Secretary  of  the  Navy  —  The  speedy  departure  of  His 
Majesty's  Packet  rendered  it  necessary  for  me  to  apply  to  the 
Mayor  as  well  as  yourself,  because  in  the  event  of  their  not 
being  restored,  I  should  have  been  obliged  to  have  taken  affi 
davits  of  the  Facts  —  I  took  it  for  granted  that  the  Mayor  had 
no  control  over  you  or  in  Naval  matters,  yet  it  appeared  prob 
able  to  me  that  his  recommendation  would  add  weight  to  my 
application. 


218       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Your  experience  in  every  instance  where  you  have  met  with 
Officers  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's  Navy,  renders  it  unneces 
sary  for  me  to  say  with  what  pleasure  they  render  the  Ameri 
can  Naval  Officers  every  aid  in  their  power  and  I  am  gratified 
by  the  very  handsome  and  polite  manner  in  which  you  have 
been  pleased  to  express  similar  sentiments  toward  them,  and 
your  readiness  to  support  a  continuance  of  the  present  good 
Understanding  which  subsists  between  our  respective  Govern 
ments. 


TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York,  16th  April  1805. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  am  much  obliged  by  your  private  letter  of  the  13th  of  this 
Month,  and  for  your  general  justification  of  my  proceedings 
respecting  the  Crew  of  the  Manhattan,  and  my  Correspon 
dence  with  the  Deputy  Mayor  of  this  City  on  the  Subject,  to 
which  it  appears  the  American  Secretary  of  State  has  thought 
proper  to  except,  and  to  transmit  you  a  formal  Complaint. — 
Wherever  His  Majesty's  Interest,  and  that  of  the  Nation  are 
involved,  I  shall  always  consider  it  my  duty  to  speak  the 
truth,  however  unpleasant  it  may  be  to  those  who  hear  or  feel 
it  5  an  opposite  line  of  Conduct  will  gain  little  in  this  Coun 
try,  where  politeness  is  too  generally  supposed  to  originate  in 
timidity,  &  accommodation  in  Servility.  The  French  know 
better  how  to  treat  the  Americans. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  observe  that,  that  point  of  my  letter 
which  appears  to  have  given  the  greatest  offence  and  of  which 
you  have  given  me  an  extract,  was  in  reply  to  the  demand  of 
the  Deputy  Mayor,  that  every  Seaman  on  board  His  Majesty's 
Sloop  Busy  from  the  Manhattan  possessed  of  a  Certificate  of 
American  Citizenship  should  immediately  be  set  at  liberty: 
upon  this  principle,  that  these  Certificates  were  evidence  of 
their  being  American  Citizens,  until  the  Contrary  was  proved. 
It  became  necessary  to  resist  this  position,  &  in  my  opinion, 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  219 

not  improper  in  my  reply,  to  state  the  above  abuses  in  the 
granting  of  these  Certificates.  The  Doctrine  set  up  by  the 
Deputy  Mayor  would  be  productive  of  serious  consequences 
to  His  Majesty's  Service,  &  effectually  preclude  the  Comman 
ders  of  Ships  of  War  from  recovering  a  British  Seaman  pos 
sessed  of  one  of  these  Certificates.  It  is  a  claim  admirably 
adapted  to  the  carrying  into  effect  the  act  for  the  better  pres 
ervation  of  Peace  in  the  Ports  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Waters  within  their  Jurisdiction. —  Let  the  Scotch  accent  or 
Irish  Brogue,  be  ever  so  strong  it  is  to  have  no  weight,  where 
opposed  to  a  Certificate  of  Citizenship.  Passing  over  in  silence 
the  innumerable  instances  where  British  Subjects  within  a 
month  after  their  arrival  in  these  States  obtain  Certificates, 
permit  me  to  remind  you,  that  by  a  Law  of  these  States,  a 
residence  of  five  years  entitles  a  man  to  a  Certificate  of  Citi 
zenship.  The  United  States  have  a  right  to  enact  what  laws 
they  please,  but  it  rests  with  His  Majesty  whether  he  will 
suffer  them  to  operate  in  violation  of  his  rights.  If  Congress 
have  a  right  to  say  five  years  residence  shall  create  a  foreigner 
a  Citizen,  in  such  an  absolute  manner  as  not  to  be  reclaimed 
by  the  power  to  which  he  originally  belonged  —  They  may 
with  the  same  propriety  enact  the  moment  a  foreigner  sets 
foot  in  these  States,  he  becomes  ipso  facto,  an  American  Citi 
zen  &  to  be  protected  as  such  —  The  Documents  which  I  have 
already  furnished  you  prove  the  indiscriminate  use  of  those 
Certificates,  and  I  might  appeal  to  the  Commander  of  the 
American  Ships  of  War  whether  the  major  part  of  their  crews 
have  not  been  natives  of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland.  The  fact 
is  notorious,  and  the  truth  of  my  remark  was  the  only  cause 
of  offence.  Perhaps  my  objection  was  too  broad,  I  wish  it 
had  been  more  qualified,  but  will  Mr  Madison  venture  to  say 
that  there  have  not  been  great  and  innumerable  abuses  in 
granting  of  these  Certificates  —  If  this  is  the  Case,  really  he 
should  not  have  found  fault  with  an  assertion  which  possibly 
may  have  applied  too  extensive  limits,  to  what  is  exceeded  as 
extension.  I  shall  studiously  avoid  in  all  my  communications 
with  the  officers  of  the  American  Government  using  expres 
sions  which  may  in  the  most  remote  manner  give  pain  or  of- 


220  COERESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

fence  unless  indispensable  in  asserting  the  Rights  of  my  Sov 
ereign.  I  have  the  Collector's  assurances  that  he  has  not  yet 
received  any  order  for  carrying  the  Act  for  the  better  preser 
vation  of  Peace  &c  &c  into  effect  — 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL   SIE  ANDREW  MITCHELL. 

New  York  3d  May  1805. 
SIR. 

I  understand  Mr  Le  Blanc  who  commanded  an  armed  tender 
attached  to  the  Cambrian  has  left  the  position  off  Sandy  Hook 
and  returned  to  Halifax ;  in  which  event  he  will  have  been 
with  you  some  time  before  this  is  received ;  and  have  informed 
you  of  the  desertion  of  his  sailing  Master  and  eight  Seamen 
with  the  Cutter. —  Every  exertion  in  my  power  has  been  made 
to  regain  the  men,  but  no  traces  could  be  found  of  any  of 
them,  save  the  sailing  Master  and  a  man  dressed  in  a  black 
coat,  white  trousers  and  vest,  about  twenty-five  years  old,  dark 
hair  and  about  5  feet  10  Inches.  —  They  were  discovered  by  a 
man  who  I  had  employed,  but  before  I  could  get  a  peace  offi 
cer  to  the  house,  they  were  off  and  have  not  been  since  seen. 
From  the  best  legal  advice  I  am  however  told  that  nothing 
could  have  been  done  with  these  men,  because  the  taking  of 
the  Boat  would  not  be  adjudged  a  felony,  as  they  left  her  on 
a  beach,  but  merely  as  a  means  of  their  escape  —  That  it  has 
been  so  adjudged  in  the  case  of  men  who  affected  their  escape 
from  an  American  Ship  in  the  same  way. 

I  forwarded  to  you  at  Bermuda  the  act  of  Congress  for  the 
better  preservation  of  peace  in  the  harbours  and  ports  of  the 
United  States  and  the  "Waters  thereof  —  and  I  have  since  for 
warded  several  letters  from  Mr  Merry  to  you  which  I  suppose 
to  be  on  the  same  subject  —  No  instructions  have  yet  been  re 
ceived  by  the  Collector  of  the  Customs  of  this  Port,  as  he  as 
sures  me,  from  the  President  for  carrying  this  law  into  effect 
— And  it  is  not  only  my  opinion  but  that  of  many  of  the  best 
informed  Gentlemen  of  this  place,  that  the  President  will  not 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  221 

send  any  instructions,  or  if  he  does  they  will  be  so  guardedly 
expressed,  as  to  give  no  power  to  the  Collectors  until  each  par 
ticular  case  is  reported  —  If  necessary  I  am  therefore  of  opin 
ion  you  may  with  safety  send  any  of  your  ships  here,  I  would 
however  recommend  their  not  coming  nearer  town  than  Staten 
Island  — 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL  SIR  ANDREW  MITCHELL. 

New  York  4  May  1805. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  you  that  several  Vessels  which 
have  arrived  within  these  States  from  the  West  Indies,  report 
that  they  saw  the  french  Squadron  lately  in  the  West  Indies 
on  the  4th,  5th  and  8th  of  last  Month  steering  to  the  Northward, 
on  the  last  day  they  were  in  N.  L.  24 : 14  —  L.  66. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  they  are  bound  for  New 
foundland  and  possibly  for  Halifax.1 


TO   MR.   MERRY. 

New  York  14th  May  1805. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  you  that  a  french  Privateer 
Schooner  of  twelve  Guns  arrived  here  on  the  Evening  of  the 
12th  and  came  to  an  anchor  between  this  and  Staten  Island ; 
but  yesterday,  Mail  was  closed,  before  I  could  learn  her  desti 
nation  or  object. —  She  belongs  to  Victor  Hughes 2  the  Gover 
nor  of  Cayenne  and  having  sprung  a  leak  has  put  in  to  this 
place  for  repair,  and  I  understand  the  Governor  has  granted 
permission  —  I  shall  observe  the  nature  of  the  repairs,  and  re- 

1  Missiessy,  with  the  Rochefort  Squadron,  sailed  from  the  West  Indies 
about  the  first  of  April,  and  reached  Rochefort  again  on  May  26. 
2  Hugues. 


222        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

port  them  to  you,  if  they  appear  more  than  necessary  to  carry 
her  back  in  safety  to  Cayenne  — 

I  have  received  information  this  morning  from  a  confidential 
person  who  spoke  a  Spanish  Privateer  of  14  Guns  on  Sunday 
a  little  to  the  Southward  of  this  port,  the  Captain  of  which 
said  he  should  cruise  some  time  between  this  and  the  Chese- 
peak  —  I  shall  give  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Mitchell  the 
earliest  information. 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  A.  MITCHELL. 

New  York  16th  May  1805 
SIR 

Since  my  letter  to  you  of  the  14th  Current,  I  have  received 
information  from  the  Master  of  an  American  Vessel,  that  he 
was  boarded  about  50  Leagues  to  the  Southward  of  Savannah 
in  Georgia  by  a  f rench  Privateer  named  the  Grand  Visiteur  of 
22  Guns  and  150  Men,  destined  to  cruise  off  Georgia  —  You 
will  perceive  by  the  newspaper  inclosed  that  there  is  also 
another  f  rench  Privateer  off  this  Port  —  I  take  it  for  granted 
they  have  heard  of  your  having  gone  with  the  Squadron  to 
Nova  Scotia,  and  have  come  on  the  American  Coast  to  reap 
while  your  Ships  are  in  port  —  The  President  has  not  sent  any 
instructions  to  the  Collector  of  the  Customs  for  carrying  into 
effect  the  Law  for  the  better  preservation  of  Peace  in  the 
Ports  of  the  United  States  and  the  waters  under  their  Juris 
diction  :  your  ships  may  therefore  for  the  present  come  with 
safety  within  Sandy  Hook  —  It  may  however  not  be  amiss  to 
give  particular  orders  to  the  Commanders,  not  to  let  the  yawl 
from  the  Pilot  boat  come  along  side,  but  send  their  own  boat 
to  take  him  out,  and  when  on  board  ship,  that  he  is  not  per 
mitted  to  speak  to  any  of  the  Men  —  These  Pilots  invariably 
bring  letters  from  on  board,  and  verbal  complaints  of  Men 
representing  themselves  to  be  Americans  —  as  there  is  always 
an  officer  on  the  Quarter  Deck,  it  cannot  in  my  opinion  be 
difficult  to  prevent  the  Pilot  conversing  with  the  Seamen  — 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  223 

TO   DE   WITT   CLINTON. 

New  York  3d  July  1805 
SIR. 

I  am  informed  that  the  French  Privateer  Les  Amie  has 
more  Guns  on  board  than  those  she  arrived  with  in  this  Port ; 
her  number  of  Guns  being  then  eight  and  that  she  has  in 
creased  her  original  complement  of  men,  who  were  sixty  four 
in  number  — 

I  have  therefore  to  request  that  you  will  take  the  proper 
measures  to  prevent  her  leaving  this  Port  with  an  increase  of 
men  or  Guns,  as  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  Laws  of  Nations  — 
It  is  further  stated  to  me,  but  this  is  a  fact  not  in  my  power 
at  present  to  prove  but  which  ought  to  come  within  the  know 
ledge  of  the  Customs,  that  Powder  has  been  put  on  board  this 
Privateer  in  this  Port  —  The  Privateer  will  sail  at  daybreak 
to  morrow  morning,  unless  detained  by  you  for  examination  — 


TO   MK.   MEERY. 

New  York  6  July  1805 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  my  letter  of  the  3d  cur 
rent  to  the  Mayor  of  this  City  on  the  Subject  of  the  French 
Privateer  Les  Amie  then  in  this  Port,  with  his  answer  to  me 
on  the  subject,  which  appears  very  positive,  particularly  when 
it  is  considered  that  his  information  from  his  own  statement 
appears  to  have  been  drawn  from  the  assurances  of  the  French 
Commissary  and  the  Agent  of  the  Privateer.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  enter  into  a  dispute  with  the  Mayor  on  this  subject,  because 
I  am  not  certain  that  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  bring  for 
ward  Witnesses  to  prove  that  the  Privateer  had  received  ad 
ditional  Guns  while  in  this  Port,  or  an  increase  of  Powder  and 
Shot  j  but  I  trust  you  will  agree  with  me  that  his  measures  to 
ascertain  the  fact,  should  have  been  by  an  examination  of  the 
Ship  by  Custom  House  or  other  Civil  officers,  and  not  to  build 


224        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

an  answer  on  the  assurances  of  the  French  Commissary  or 
Agent  of  the  Privateer. —  I  submit  the  case  to  your  better 
judgement  and  hope  you  will  be  able  to  obtain  from  the  Amer 
ican  Secretary  of  State  directions  to  the  Mayor  for  his  taking 
more  satisfactory  measures  in  future  on  similar  occasions. 


TO  ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York,  22"  July  1805 
SIR. 

On  the  subject  of  Mr.  Madison's  answer  to  your  representa 
tion  respecting  the  French  Privateer  Les  Amie  repaired  in  this 
Port,  permit  me  to  remark,  that  on  her  arrival  here  application 
was  made  to  the  Governor  to  allow  her  to  come  up  to  the  City 
in  order  to  undergo  necessary  repairs,  to  which  he  assented. 
I  have  since  been  informed  by  the  Deputy  Collector  that  on 
a  supposition  that  she  was  a  Commissioned  Vessel  the  Custom 
House  took  no  cognizance  of  her  —  an  application  therefore  to 
the  Collector  would  probably  have  proved  unsatisfactory  — 
But  while  that  Privateer  was  in  port,  I  privately  called  on  the 
Surveyor  of  the  Customs,  and  acquainted  him  that  I  had  rea 
son  to  believe  that  vessel  would  receive  a  repair  beyond  what 
was  necessary  under  the  treaty  between  France  and  the  United 
States  of  America  and  contrary  to  the  Laws  of  Nations,  and 
that  I  had  received  information  she  would  take  on  board  Guns, 
powder  and  shot  purchased  in  this  City,  and  requested  he 
would  direct  his  officers  to  attend  to  her  and  report  the  facts  — 
The  Surveyor  a  few  days  before  the  sailing  of  the  Privateer 
assured  me  that  his  officers  had  not  been  able  to  detect  any 
thing  which  he  considered  illegal,  but  he  added  that  as  the 
Privateer  lay  in  the  Stream  and  he  could  not  send  an  officer 
on  board,  that  the  Warlike  articles  by  me  mentioned  might  at 
night  have  been  put  on  board  without  his  knowledge  or  that 
of  his  officers. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  225 

TO   ME.   MERKY. 

Elizabeth  town  New  Jersey. 

12th  September  1805. 
SIR. 

I  have  in  consequence  of  the  yellow  fever  having  extended 
itself  over  every  part  of  New  York,  been  obliged  to  remove 
with  my  family  to  this  place  until  health  is  restored  to  that 
unfortunate  City. 

The  symptoms  of  that  fever  and  its  mortality  are  stated  by 
the  faculty  to  be  more  violent  and  greater  than  in  proceeding 
years. —  You  will  for  the  present  be  pleased  to  address  your 
letters  for  me  at  this  place. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  fever  I  shall  be  twice  in  each 
week,  as  near  the  City  as  possible  to  attend  to  the  duties  of 
my  office. 


TO   MB.   MEEEY. 

New  York  7  Novr  1805. 
SIR. 

It  appears  that  Col :  Williams  of  the  Engineers  some  time 
since  received  orders  to  survey,  and  examine  the  Port  of  New 
York,  and  report  the  particular  scite  most  proper  for  the  erect 
ing  of  Fortifications  for  the  defence  of  that  place,  the  extent 
and  nature  of  these  works,  whether  Islands  might  not  be 
formed  by  art  peculiarly  adapted  to  defence,  and  to  present 
an  estimate  of  the  aggregate  expence  which  would  attend  the 
Works  he  should  propose  as  necessary.1 

1  See  as  to  Lt.-Col.  Williams's  Ee-  tary  in  Paris,  where  he  studied  the 

port,  Amer.  State  Papers,  Mil.  Af-  science  of  fortification.  He  returned 

fairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  193.    Jonathan  Wil-  to  America  after  the  peace,  entered 

Hams,  "the  father  of  West  Point,"  the  Army,  and  became  the  first  Su- 

was  bom  at  Boston,  May  26,  1750.  perintendent  of  the  Military  Acad- 

He  was  a  great -nephew  of  Benjamin  emy.    He  died  May  16,  1815. 
Franklin,  and  was  Franklin's  secre- 

15 


226  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

He  attended  the  examination  and  survey  for  several  days 
about  the  20th  of  October,  and  a  part  of  this  duty  was  before 
that  date  and  since  committed  to  the  Care  of  a  Captain  Ma- 
comb.1  What  his  report  was  I  cannot  yet  ascertain  but  hope 
to  do  it  in  the  course  of  a  week  or  ten  days,  but  this  is  certain 
that  while  he  was  on  this  duty,  he  declared  that  as  it  was  im 
possible  to  form  any  correct  estimate,  he  would  not  therefore 
risque  his  reputation  in  reporting  a  Sum,  that  might  exceed  or 
fall  short  of  the  necessary  expenditures. 

The  New  York  Gazette  very  incorrectly  stated  that  a  Pilot 
went  down  on  the  5th  to  bring  His  Majesty's  Ship  Cambrian 
within  the  Hook  —  The  Cambrian  has  not  been  within,  on  the 
sixth  having  agreed  with  Captain  Beresford  that  he  would  be 
within  a  few  miles  of  Sandy  Hook,  my  son  carried  down  some 
dollars  in  a  Pilot  Boat,  and  the  Ship  immediately  got  under 
way :  and  was  to  sail  this  day  for  Halifax,  the  limitation  of  the 
cruize  being  expired. 


FROM   MK.  BEOUGHTON. 

Downing  Street  Jany  3d  1806. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  5th  ult" — The  Anti 
Jacobin  is  stopped — The  Gazette  shall  be  commenced  Tomor 
row.  I  delivered  your  letter  to  Cap*  Barclay  whom  I  have  re 
quested  to  give  me  a  few  days  previous  notice  should  he  desire 
to  avail  himself  of  your  authority  for  him  to  draw  upon  me 
for  a  few  Hundred  Pounds  to  compleat  the  purchase  of  his 
Majority  — 

The  Accounts  from  the  Continent  are  so  truly  disastrous 
and  afflicting  that  I  will  only  say  I  consider  the  Good  Cause  as 
utterly  hopeless  —  Bonaparte  being  absolute  Master  of  the 
Continent.2  The  Southern  Part  of  which  he  will  carve  and 

1  Alexander  Macomb  was  at  this  ing  General  of  the  Array,  and  died 

time  23  years  old.     He  was  rapidly  June  25,  1841. 

'promoted  during  the  war  with  Eng-  2  The    battle    of    Austerlitz   was 

land,  attained  the  rank   of  Major-  fought  December  2,  1805. 
General  in  1814,  became  Command- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  227 

apportion  in  whatever  manner  he  pleases.  His  Plan  appears 
to  me  to  be  to  reestablish  The  Empire  of  The  West  in  his  own 
Person. 

There  is  little  to  look  forward  to  with  the  smallest  compla 
cency.  A  protracted  War  will  exhaust  our  pecuniary  resources 
and  a  speedy  Peace  will  release  the  Corsican's  Sailors  now  in 
our  Prisons  and  afford  him  the  means  of  creating  a  Navy 
which  may  be  able  to  dispute  the  Dominion  of  the  Seas  with 
that  of  Great  Britain — until  which,  I  hold  all  his  Vaporing 
about  Invasion  as  mere  empty  Gasconade  —  We  never  can  be 
invaded  with  any  prospect  of  Success  on  his  Part  until  his 
descent  is  covered  by  a  powerful  Fleet. 
Ever  dear  Sir 

Very  truly  Yours 

C.  R.  BROUGHTON. 


TO   VICE-ADMIKAL   SIK  ANDKEW   MITCHELL. 

New  York,  I9t  Feby  1806. 
SIR. 

Previous  to  your  leaving  Halifax  for  Bermuda,  you  must 
have  heard  that  the  Americans  had  warmly  taken  up  the  Doc 
trine  advanced  in  a  late  British  Pamphlet  entitled  war  in  Dis 
guise  ; 1  and  of  what  they  termed  a  violation  of  their  neutral 
Rights  by  recent  captures  on  the  Part  of  His  Majesty  and 
condemnations  of  property  on  board  American  Ships.  The 
Merchants  of  the  principal  Cities  in  these  States  have  memo 
rialed  Congress  on  this  Subject  in  strong  Languages —  a  Copy 
of  one  of  these  I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose.  Things  appear 
to  me  to  be  approximating  to  an  unpleasant  Crisis  between 
Great  Britain  and  these  States.  On  Wednesday  last  a  resolu 
tion  passed  the  lower  house  in  Congress  on  the  Subject  of 
passing  an  Act  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  any  goods  wares 
merchandizes  or  any  thing  the  Produce  of  Great  Britain,  its 

i  See  Adams's  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  50-53. 


228       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Dominions  &c. —  This  resolution 1  you  will  find  in  one  of  the 
news  Papers  inclosed,  and  in  another  news  paper  the  remon 
strance  of  the  Amn  Minister  at  London  to  Lord  Mulgrave  on 
the  general  subject  of  violation  of  neutral  rights.2  It  is 
doubtful  whether  Congress  will  eventually  pass  a  law  to  pro 
hibit  importations  from  Great  Britain  and  its  dependencies, 
yet  as  they  appear  to  grow  daily  more  warm,  in  proportion  as 
they  debate  on  the  question,  I  confess  I  should  not  be  surprised 
if  so  imprudent  a  measure  was  carried.  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty  to  give  you  this  hint,  that  you  may  if  you  judge  proper 
order  some  of  the  Ships  under  your  command  to  touch  more 
frequently  here,  than  you  originally  intended. 

I  do  not  know  what  may  have  passed  between  you  and  Lieut 
General  Gardner  on  the  Subject  of  money  now  in  my  hands 
for  the  use  of  His  Majesty s  Forces,  and  of  its  conveyance  from 
hence  to  Halifax  j  but  under  the  present  appearances  I  much 
wish  it  was  from  this  place  j  and  could  wish  if  it  does  not  mil 
itate  with  more  material  parts  of  His  Majestys  Service  that 
you  would  have  the  Goodness  to  send  for  it,  as  soon  as  it  can 
be  conveniently  done. 


TO  ADMIKAL  SIR  ANDEEW  MITCHELL. 

New  York,  29  March  1806. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  dispatch 
from  Captain  Beresford  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Cambrian  of  the 
22d  of  February  by  His  Majestys  Sloop  Driver,  written  by  your 

1  The  resolution  referred  to  is  ap-  resolution,  proposed  by  Mr.  Nichol- 

parently    that    introduced    by  Mr.  son  of  Maryland,  being  adopted  as 

Gregg   of    Pennsylvania    on    Wed-  a  substitute. 

nesday,  January  29,  which  was  not        2Mr.  Monroe's  letter  of  Septem- 

adopted,  but  was  merely  referred  to  ber  23,  1805,  is  the  one  referred  to. 

a  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  It  was  communicated  to  Congress 

State  of  the  Union,  and  ordered  to  by  the  President,  together  with  me- 

be  printed.    The  resolution  was  sub-  morials  from  the  merchants  of  New- 

sequently  debated  from  March  5  to  York,    Philadelphia,   Newburyport, 

March  17,  and  lost,  a  more  moderate  Charleston,  Baltimore,  and  Norfolk. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  229 

order  in  reply  to  my  letter  of  the  first  of  that  month.  I  am 
sorry  to  inform  you  that  neither  the  December,  January  or 
February  Mails  have  arrived  from  England ;  by  arrival  from 
thence,  I  perceive  it  stated  in  the  London  papers  that  a  Packet 
sailed  from  Falmouth  on  the  28th  of  January  for  New  York. 
The  Winds  have  since  prevailed  from  the  North  Eastward, 
and  as  the  Packets  generally  take  a  southern  course  during 
the  Winter,  the  length  of  her  passage  is  easily  accounted  for, 
while  we  have  had  numbers  of  Merchants  Ships  from  England 
and  France  within  the  last  ten  days,  in  about  thirty  days  pas 
sage —  The  Purser  of  the  Driver  came  up  about  8  oClock  last 
Evening,  and  returned  to  the  Hook  this  morning,  it  being 
Captain  Simpsons  intention  as  the  Purser  informs  me  to  leave 
Sandy  Hook  this  day  on  his  return  to  Bermuda. — I  think  the 
packet  must  be  in  within  40  hours  from  this  and  I  shall  request 
the  Purser  to  communicate  my  opinion  to  Captain  Simpson, 
that  he  may  wait  that  period  if  his  orders  will  permit. — 

The  news  papers  herewith  sent  detail  the  proceedings  in 
Congress  since  my  last.  You  will  perceive  that  a  resolution 
has  passed  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  to  prohibit  the  impor 
tation  of  certain  articles  from  Great  Britain l  and  a  Bill  ordered 
to  be  brought  in  for  that  purpose.  Many  of  the  best  informed 
Americans  think  that  the  bill  will  not  pass  the  Senate ;  I  confess, 
however  I  am  of  a  different  opinion.  This  Bill  altho'  not  so 
extensive  as  Mr  Griggs  original  motion,  cannot  but  be  consid 
ered  as  a  very  unnecessarily  strong  measure. — Mr  Randolphs 
loose  desultory  speech,2  will  throw  some  light  on  the  General 
Subject,  it  is  in  one  of  the  News  papers. —  As  most  of  the 
Ships  that  were  detained  in  England  last  Autumn  and  early  in 
the  Winter,  have  since  been  returned  and  permitted  to  proceed 
on  their  respective  Voyages ;  the  American  violence  against 
Great  Britain  has  in  some  measure  subsided. 

1  Nicholson's  resolution,  adopted  long  public  career  of  opposition.'' 
March   17,    1806,   which,  amended,  Adams's     Randolph,    pp.     173-181. 
passed  the  Senate  April  15,  1806.  The  speech  was  reprinted  as  a  pam- 

2  Speech  of  March  5,  1806.    It  was  phlet  in  London,  with  an  introduc- 
with  this   speech,  says  Mr.  Henry  tion  by  James  Stephen,  the  author 
Adams,  that  Randolph  "began  his  of  War  in  Disguise. 

15* 


230  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York  24th  April  1806 
SIR. 

The  Purser  of  His  Majesty s  Ship  Leander  has  this  day  deliv 
ered  me  a  letter  from  Captain  Henry  Whitby  the  Commander 
informing  me  of  his  arrival  off  Sandy  Hook,  that  he  was  on  his 
way  from  Bermuda  to  Halifax,  and  would  proceed  the  moment 
the  Purser  returned  with  provisions — That  he  had  made  New 
York  by  order  of  the  Commander  in  Chief  for  such  dispatches 
as  might  be  here  for  him.  Captain  Whitby  will  probably  sail 
for  Halifax  on  Sunday.1 


TO   ME.  MEEEY. 

New  York,  26lh  April  1806. 
SIR. 

I  received  last  Evening  a  letter  from  Captain  Nairne  Com 
mander  of  His  Majesty's  Ship  Cambrian  acquainting  me  of 
his  arrival  off  Sandy  Hook  on  his  way  to  the  Southward  and 
of  the  Driver  Sloop  of  War  being  in  company  with  him.  —  It 
appears  that  the  Cambrian  went  from  Bermuda  to  Halifax, 
landed  Captain  Beresford  the  Senior  Officer  on  that  Station, 
refitted  and  sailed  immediately  on  a  cruise. 

I  am  under  the  painful  necessity  to  inform  you  that  ac 
counts  have  been  received  here  last  Evening,  that  the  Leander 
in  firing  on  an  American  Coaster  coming  into  the  Hook,  killed 
the  man  at  the  Helm. —  It  is  an  accident  much  to  be  regretted 
and  will  occasion  much  ill  will  on  the  part  of  the  Americans. 
I  shall  take  occasion  this  day  to  recommend  more  caution  to 
Captain  Whitby  the  Commander  of  the  Leander,  and  intreat 
that  he  and  the  two  other  ships  of  war,  will  not  approach  so 
near  the  American  Coasts,  or  at  least  when  in  such  a  situation 
that  they  abstain  from  all  acts  which  may  give  offence  —  The 

1  April  27. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  231 

Leander  will  proceed  for  Halifax  the  first  fair  Wind  —  The 
Cambrian  on  a  cruize  to  the  Southward  —  I  am  ignorant  of 
the  destination  of  the  Driver. 


TO    CAPTAIN   WHITBY. 

New  York,  26th  April  1806. 
SIR. 

Mr  Gullet  delivered  your  letter  dated  off  Sandy  Hook,  which 
was  written  as  he  tells  me  on  the  23d  ins*. 

Three  Mails  from  Falmouth  and  several  other  dispatches  for 
the  Naval  Commander  in  chief  at  Halifax  were  forwarded 
some  days  since  by  the  Princess  Mary  Packet  to  Halifax.  I 
have  not  at  present  any  dispatches  — 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  requested  you  to  have  carried 
some  money  for  the  use  of  his  Majesty's  Forces  in  Nova  Sco 
tia;  but  the  accident  which  occurred  to  you  last  Evening  in 
Killing  by  a  Shot  from  the  Leander,  a  man  at  the  helm  of  a 
sloop  coming  into  the  Hook,  has  so  irritated  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  this  place,  that  I  fear  they  will  destroy  the  boat  with 
provisions  on  board  j  and  should  she  leave  this  in  safety  pur 
sue  and  plunder  her.  In  addition  to  this  as  the  wind  is  from 
the  Eastward  attended  with  Rain  and  thick  weather,  you  will 
Keep  off  shore,  and  consequently  the  Boat  be  obliged  to  wait 
within  the  Hook  until  it  clears  up  —  Under  these  Circum 
stances  I  think  it  would  be  imprudent  to  risque  the  money  — 

Your  own  good  Sense  will  naturally  point  out  to  you  that 
the  death  of  this  man  (which  I  am  sure  on  your  part  was  un 
intentional)  will  occasion  serious  complts  on  the  part  of  the 
American  Government.  The  sooner  therefore  that  you  leave 
the  Coast  the  better  •  and  I  think  it  advisable  that  the  Cam 
brian  and  Driver  also  withdraw. 

I  shall  not  feel  easy  until  I  learn  that  Mr  Lawrence  and 
Gullet  are  safe  on  board  Ship  —  They  will  leave  this  privately 
—  Be  pleased  to  present  my  best  regards  to  Captain  Beresf  ord. 


232  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   ME.  MEBKY. 

New  York  27th  April  180G. 
SIR. 

You  have  been  informed  by  my  letter  of  the  26th  Instant 
that  His  Majestys  Ships  Leander  Cambrian  and  Driver  were 
off  this  Port,  and  that  on  the  Evening  of  the  25th  Instant  a 
man  belonging  to  a  Sloop  from  the  Delaware  to  this  place  had 
been  killed  by  a  shot  from  the  Leander  —  I  was  made  ac 
quainted  with  this  accident  early  in  the  morning  of  the  26th 
through  the  medium  of  the  News  Papers,  and  was  convinced 
it  would  create  much  violence  in  this  City. —  A  Boat  which 
the  Purser  of  the  Leander  had  laden  with  Beef,  Live  Stock 
and  other  Refreshments  and  necessaries  for  the  officers  and 
men  of  that  Ship,  was  therefore  hurried  from  the  Wharf,  in  the 
hope  that  she  might  get  to  the  Leander  before  the  public  mind 
became  so  agitated  as  to  prevent  it.  Her  departure  however 
was  discovered  and  two  fast  sailing  Boats  were  despatched  to 
over  take  and  bring  her  back.  In  this  they  succeeded  and  re 
turned  with  her  in  Triumph  about  3  oClock  in  the  afternoon 
of  that  day.  A  mob  was  collected  and  the  Articles  placed  on 
about  twenty  Carts,  on  the  first  of  which  I  am  informed  the 
British  colours  were  placed  on  a  Pole  round  and  under  the 
American  Flag.  With  Drums  beating  they  paraded  the  City 
with  the  articles  destined  for  the  Leander  and  eventually  de 
posited  them  in  the  Alms  House  for  the  use  of  the  Poor.  The 
Mob  then  proceeded  some  little  distance  towards  S*  Pauls 
Church  where  they  burnt  the  British  Colours  and  after  passing 
down  Broadway  to  White  Hall  peaceably  dispersed.  —  It  was 
frequently  urged  by  several  of  them  both  on  the  wharff,  when 
they  were  loading  the  Carts  and  while  parading  the  Streets,  to 
go  and  ransack  the  British  Consuls  House  —  Others  cried  out, 
level  it  with  the  Ground,  while  the  less  violent  proposed  tak 
ing  and  detaining  me  a  Prisoner  until  Captain  Whitby  was 
given  up  to  be  tried* for  the  murder  of  this  man.  Through  the 
prudence  of  some  respectable  Characters  the  mob  were  diverted 
from  assailing  my  house  or  insulting  my  person. —  This  unfor 
tunate  accident  has  created  much  ill  blood  in  this  City.  The 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1804-1806  233 

Body  of  the  deceased  has  been  exposed  to  public  View,  in 
order  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  Vulgar  and  to  render  the  ac 
cident  subservient  to  party  views  at  the  ensuing  election  which 
commences  Tomorrow  —  The  inclosed  hand  bill  will  give  you 
an  Idea  of  the  violence  which  subsists  here. 

Under  a  conviction  that  that  Commander  of  His  Majestys 
Ship  Leander  is  at  this  moment  ignorant  of  the  Circumstances, 
I  have  written  to  the  Mayor  for  permission  to  go  or  send  to  him, 
that  he  may  be  made  acquainted  therewith.  I  have  also  re 
quested  his  permission  for  the  four  officers  of  that  Ship,  who 
I  understand  are  concealed  in  or  near  this  City,  to  go  and  join 
her.  A  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Mayor  I  have  the  Honor  to 
inclose  — 


TO   DE  WITT   CLINTON. 

New  York  27th  April  1806. 
SlE 

No  one  more  deeply  regrets  than  I  do  the  unfortunate  and 
fatal  accident  that  has  so  strongly  excited  the  Sensibility  of 
this  City,  a  regard  for  whose  peace,  as  well  as  a  desire  to  ap 
prize  the  Commander  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Leander  of  this  oc 
currence  make  it  in  my  opinion  highly  expedient  that  I  be 
permitted  to  transmit  to  this  officer  an  account  of  what  has 
happened,  and  of  which  at  this  moment,  I  believe,  he  remains 
uninformed — 

It  is  proper  likewise  that  I  inform  you,  that  four  of  His 
Majestys  officers  who  came  to  this  City  two  days  before  the 
Accident,  and  who  are  desirous  of  returning  to  the  Leander 
are  now  in  or  near  this  City. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  becomes  my  duty  to  request  of 
you,  as  the  first  Magistrate  of  the  City,  that  I  may  be  per 
mitted  to  go  or  send  on  board  His  Majestys  Ship  Leander  for 
the  purpose  of  informing  the  Commander  of  the  unfortunate 
death  occasioned  by  a  shot  from  that  Ship ;  and  of  the  Sensi 
bility  and  Resentment  which  the  same  has  created  throughout 
the  City.  It  is  also  my  duty  to  request  that  the  four  officers 


234        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

in  question  be  allowed  at  the  same  time  to  go  on  board  the 
Leander. 

I  am  influenced  on  this  occasion  by  an  earnest  desire  to  do 
my  duty  to  the  King  my  Master — to  secure  the  Peace  of  this 
City  and  to  promote  the  continuance  of  that  good  understand 
ing  and  Harmony  that  happily  subsists  between  our  respective 
Countries  — 


TO  ME.    MEEEY. 

New  York  29th  April  1806 
SIR 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  the  Answer  of 
the  Mayor  of  New  York  to  my  letter  of  the  27th  Instant  — 

You  will  perceive  that  the  Mayor  passes  in  silence  that  part 
of  my  letter  which  relates  to  the  officers  being  permitted  to  re 
turn  to  their  Ships,  but  his  refusal  to  assent  is  contained  in  his 
general  reply,  "that  he  is  unwilling  to  adopt  any  measures 
however  inconsiderable  until  he  has  received  orders  from  the 
Government" — With  respect  to  my  going  or  sending  he  adds 
that  as  the  laws  of  these  States  permit  it,  there  is  no  occasion 
for  his  authorization  —  This  answer  from  the  Mayor  amounts 
to  a  refusal,  because  he  Knows  that  the  Citizens  are  prohibited 
by  certain  resolutions  passed  at  a  public  meeting  on  the  night 
of  the  27th  Instant  from  having  any  intercourse  with  His  Maj- 
estys  Ships  —  and  at  the  time  I  delivered  him  my  letter  above 
mentioned,  I  explained  fully  to  him,  that  the  cause  of  my  ap 
plication  for  his  permission  was  to  remove  the  consequences  of 
the  Inhibition  contained  in  those  resolutions  — 

My  object  was  to  get  the  officers  once  more  on  board  their 
Ships,  to  have  forwarded  the  Affidavits  respecting  the  death  of 
Pearce,  and  to  have  recommended  to  the  Commander  the  pro 
priety  of  his  Keeping  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  American 
Line  of  marine  Jurisdiction. — 

I  have  been  unwearied  in  my  exertions  to  hire  a  Vessel  to  go 
down  to  the  Ships  —  No  man  dares  increase  the  public  resent 
ment  by  communicating  with  them.  Captain  Whitby  is  there- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  235 

fore  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  accident  and  of  the  public  irrita 
tion  of  which  you  will  perceive  the  Mayor  partakes  largely 
from  the  expressions  contained  in  his  letter  to  me.  I  have  al 
ready  informed  you  in  my  private  letter  that  I  have  reason  to 
believe  the  continuance  of  this  inhibition,  depends  on  the  re 
turn  of  the  Pilot  Boat  sent  off  on  Saturday  evening  for  the 
purpose  of  retaking  the  American  Vessels  sent  to  Halifax  for 
adjudication.  But  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  Com 
mander  of  His  Majesty's  Ships  will  come  up  and  enforce  the 
delivery  of  his  officers  —  Such  a  measure  would  naturally  pro 
duce  very  serious  consequences  —  I  have  made  up  my  mind  not 
to  have  any  Agency  in  privately  conveying  the  officers  on 
board  their  Ships,  who  came  here  on  Business  and  who  if  they 
are  not  allowed  to  transact  that  Business  should  at  least  be 
permitted  to  return  in  safety  — 


TO   CAPTAIN    WHITBY. 

New  York  I8t  May  1806 
SlE 

I  received  at  10  oClock  last  night  your  letter  of  the  30th  of 
April,  and  went  immediately  to  see  Lieut  Cowan  who  was  the 
Bearer  of  your  dispatch,  and  had  very  properly  stopped  at  Fort 
Jay,1  and  to  the  Mayor  of  this  City  to  enquire  of  him  what  an 
swer  he  intended  to  make  to  your  requisition  and  whether  he 
would  permit  the  officers  of  your  Ship  and  of  the  Cambrian 
to  return  with  Lieut  Cowan.  He  replied  that  he  never  had 
prevented  those  officers  from  returning  to  their  Ships  whenever 
they  thought  fit  to  go.— I  answered  that  I  believe  it  true  that 
he  never  had  publickly  forbid  them  going,  but  his  declining  to 
comply  with  my  request  of  the  27th  Instant  to  grant  them  leave, 
was  tantamount  to  a  refusal,  because  he  knew  that  by  a  set  of 
resolutions  of  the  Merchants  and  other  Citizens  of  the  26th  Ins* 
all  intercourse  had  been  prohibited  between  this  City  and  His 
Majesty's  Ships,  and  therefore  if  I  had  sent  those  officers  down 

1  Governor's  Island. 


236       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

(admitting  it  possible  to  have  procured  a  conveyance)  I  should 
have  had  the  mortification  to  have  seen  them  brought  back, 
and  probably  subject  to  the  violence  and  insult  of  a  mob. — 
That  he  could  not  but  know  that  the  Pilot  Boat  had  orders  to 
intercept  all  Vessels  attempting  to  make  either  of  His  Majes 
ty  s  Ships. — After  some  little  further  conversation  the  Mayor 
told  me,  he  did  agree  to  their  going  and  that  he  would  send  me 
some  time  this  day  an  answer  to  be  forwarded  to  you. — 

As  I  am  anxious  that  the  officers  should  be  restored  to  you 
immediately,  I  have  resolved  to  send  them  without  the  Mayor's 
reply  to  you,  and  shall  forward  it  by  the  first  Conveyance  after 
it  comes  to  hand,  writing  you  more  fully  on  this  unpleasant 
subject.  Had  not  Mr  Cowan  arrived,  the  officers  were  to  have 
attempted  getting  on  board  for  which  purpose  a  Boat  was  in 
readiness  —  I  shall  write  you  more  fully  during  the  day.  The 
appearance  of  rain  &  thick  weather  induces  me  to  not  to  de 
tain  the  Gentlemen  — 

I  hope  you  recM  during  Yesterday  letters  from  Mr  Lawrence 
and  myself  which  were  put  on  board  a  Vessel  for  Martinique 
and  which  Mr  Dupoy  the  owner  of  the  Vessel  promised  me 
should  be  delivered  to  you  — 


TO   DE   WITT   CLINTON. 

New  York  1st  May  1806 
SIR 

I  regret  that  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  again  stating  to 
you,  that  it  is  indispensably  necessary  that  the  officers  of  His 
Majesty's  Ships  of  War  Leander  and  Cambrian  return  to  their 
respective  Ships,  and  that  without  your  Sanction  and  protec 
tion  it  is  dangerous  and  impracticable  for  them  to  attempt  it. 
I  am  well  informed  that  there  are  persons  in  this  City  laying 
in  wait  to  intercept  those  officers  if  they  attempt  to  leave  this 
City,  and  that  there  are  Boats  stationed  near  Sandy  Hook  to 
prevent  any  Vessels  from  communicating  with  either  of  His 
Majesty's  Ships  —  I  am  also  assured  that  if  the  officers  are 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  237 

taken  in  endeavouring  to  join  their  Ships,  that  they  will  be 
brought  back  to  this  City,  where  their  persons  will  be  insulted 
and  their  lives  endangered. — 

Under  these  assurances  it  is  my  duty  to  require  of  you,  as 
the  chief  Magistrate  in  this  City,  a  safe  conveyance  for  the  offi 
cers  from  hence  to  one  of  His  Majesty's  Ships  now  laying  off 
the  Bar  at  Sandy  Hook  waiting  their  return  —  Be  pleased  to 
favor  me  with  an  answer. 


TO  MB.   MERRY. 

New  York  3d  May  1806. 
SIR. 

On  the  Evening  of  the  20th  of  April  a  cutter  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  a  Flag  of  Truce  arrived  from  the  Commander  of  His 
Majestys  Ships  off  Sandy  Hook  at  Fort  Jay  or  Governors 
Island  immediately  opposite  to  this  City.  The  officer  who  came 
up  in  the  Cutter  placed  himself  under  the  protection  of  the 
American  officer  at  Fort  Jay,  and  delivered  him  a  letter  from 
Cap*  Whitby  the  Commander  of  His  Majestys  Ships  off  Sandy 
Hook  to  the  Mayor  of  this  City,  and  another  for  myself,  en 
quiring  as  to  the  cause  of  the  detention  of  his  officers  and  re 
questing  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  ships. 
Disavowing  an  intention  to  kill  any  man  on  board  the  Sloop, 
of  which  I  have  already  stated  to  you  the  circumstances  and 
stating  that  the  cause  of  the  accident  was  owing  wholly  to  the 
obstinacy  of  the  master  who  would  not  bring  to,  to  be  ex 
amined. — 

I  waited  that  night  in  person  on  the  Mayor  on  the  subject 
of  this  application,  who  assured  me  he  would  give  every  facil 
ity  in  his  power  to  effect  the  return  of  the  officers.  At  noon 
of  the  following  day,  I  again  met  him  by  appointment  to  con 
fer  with  him  and  the  officer  Commanding  at  Fort  Jay  on  the 
mode  to  be  adopted,  when  it  was  proposed  by  him,  that  the  of 
ficer  who  came  up  with  Cap*  Whitbys  letter  should  immedi 
ately  return,  and  that  an  armed  Boat  from  Fort  Jay  should 


238        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

attend  him  until  he  had  proceeded  so  far  as  to  be  in  safety 
from  any  attack  which  might  be  made  upon  him  from  the  In 
habitants  of  this  City ;  and  that  he  the  Mayor  would  procure 
a  Pilot  Boat  to  take  the  officers,  who  arrived  on  the  23d  of 
April,  down  to  their  ships  during  the  ensuing  night. —  The 
Mayor  then  read  to  me  a  part  of  his  answer  to  Captain  Whitby, 
wherein  he  stated  that  the  officers  had  never  been  detained,  that 
they  might  have  returned  when  they  pleased ;  but  if  I  thought 
their  persons  were  in  danger,  he  was  ready  to  grant  them  safe 
conduct,  on  a  request  from  me  to  that  purport. 

I  told  the  Mayor,  I  could  not  but  wonder  at  this  statement 
to  Capt.  Whitby.  That  a  prohibition  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the 
City  to  have  any  communication  with  the  Ships  by  resolves  of 
a  numerous  meeting,  and  the  placing  of  Pilot  Boats  to  prevent 
any  Vessel  from  going  to  His  Majestys  Ships,  was  in  fact  de 
taining  the  officers,  by  depriving  them  of  a  conveyance.  That 
my  letter  to  him  of  the  27th  of  April,  a  copy  whereof  I  have 
sent  to  you,  contained  a  request  for  his  permission  for  those 
officers  to  return  to  their  ships,  and  that  his  permission  natur 
ally  would  have  included  a  protection.  That  the  declaration 
contained  in  his  answer  to  my  letter  of  the  27th  of  April,  towit 
that  "he  did  not  feel  willing  to  adopt  any  steps  however  in 
considerable  until  he  obtained  instructions  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States,"  added  to  his  passing  over  in  silence  that 
part  of  my  letter  which  respected  those  officers  appeared  to  me 
a  refusal  to  grant  them  his  permission  to  return  to  their  Ships. 
However  as  he  had  stated  to  Captain  Whitby  that  he  would 
give  the  officers  safe  Conduct  to  their  Ships,  on  an  application 
from  me,  I  would  repeat  my  request  for  that  purpose.  A  copy 
of  this  letter  I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose. 

The  Mayor  then  directed  one  of  the  Pilots  to  take  the  offi 
cers  that  night  on  board  their  Ships,  and  I  understand  they 
got  on  board  about  3  o'Clock  yesterday  Morning,  soon  after 
which  both  Ships  the  Leander  and  Cambrian  left  the  Station. 
The  former  for  Halifax  the  latter  on  a  cruize  to  the  South 
ward. — 

Much  as  I  regret  the  accident  of  an  American  Seaman  hav 
ing  been  killed  by  a  shot  from  His  Majestys  Ship  Leander ; 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  239 

still  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  add  that  a  very  improper  use  has  been 
made  of  this  unpleasant  circumstance,  by  converting  it  into  a 
political  weapon,  which  the  Federal  and  Republican  Parties 
have  used  against  each  other,  but  at  the  same  time  has  made 
the  unhappy  effort  to  influence  the  passions  of  the  vulgar  to 
an  extravagant  degree,  against  the  British  Government,  and 
the  officers  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  then  near  Sandy  Hook. 


TO   CAPTAIN  WHITBY. 

New  York  6th  May  1806. 
Sm. 

Your  letter  of  the  2d  of  May  I  have  this  moment  received. 
Mr  Lawrence  I  had  hoped  would  have  informed  you  of  every 
circumstance  which  occurred  from  his  arrival  in  this  City  on 
the  night  of  the  23d  of  April  to  that  of  his  departure  on  the 
first  of  May. —  On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  April,  I  wrote  to 
you,  by  the  Boat  that  was  to  have  taken  down  the  Provisions, 
stating  the  accident  which  had  happened  and  the  improper  use 
that  had  been  made  of  it,  by  both  Parties  in  this  City  then 
canvassing  for  a  contested  Election  —  The  Boat,  as  Mr  Law 
rence  must  have  informed  you,  was  pursued  by  a  party  of 
armed  men  and  brought  back  —  What  became  of  the  letter  I 
know  not,  as  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  of  the  party.  On 
the  27  of  April  I  again  wrote  to  you  detailing  every  circum 
stance,  but  found  it  impracticable  to  procure  a  conveyance  for 
the  letter.  On  the  28  I  wrote  another  letter  in  continuation  to 
that  of  the  preceeding  day,  but  was  equally  unsuccessful  as  to 
the  conveyance.  On  the  30th  a  Mr  Dupoy  a  Merchant  in  this 
city  to  whom  I  got  a  friend  to  make  the  proposal,  agreed  that 
on  my  becoming  bound  that  his  Brig  should  not  be  detained 
by  yourself  or  the  Captains  of  either  of  the  Ships  under  your 
Command,  that  the  Captain  of  His  Brig  (then  going  to  the 
West  Indies)  should  deliver  my  despatches  to  you  at  Sandy 
Hook  —  These  dispatches  contained  three  letters  from  myself, 
and  from  Mr  Lawrence,  copies  of  the  letters  which  had  passed 
between  the  Mayor  of  this  City  and  myself,  on  the  subject  of 


240       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  officers  detained  here  from  your  Ship,  and  a  regular  file  of 
News  papers  from  the  26th  to  the  30th  of  April.  I  have  since 
understood  that  the  Master  of  the  Brig  did  not  comply  with 
his  owners  orders,  but  proceeded  to  sea  while  His  Majesty s 
Ships  were  at  Anchor.  To  these  circumstances  you  are  to  at 
tribute  not  hearing  from  me,  until  Lieut.  Cowan's  return.  In 
my  letter  to  you  of  the  first  of  May,  I  made  mention  of  having 
sent  those  letters  by  the  Brig. 

I  am  confident  Sir,  that  I  have  done  my  duty  to  His  Majesty 
and  to  you,  and  that  it  was  no  more  in  my  power  to  command 
conveyances,  than  it  is  in  yours  to  control  the  Winds  j  and  I 
had  hoped  you  would  have  rested  satisfied  that  every  thing 
that  could  be  effected,  would  have  been  done  by  me.  My  anx 
iety  to  give  you  notice  was  at  least  equal  to  yours  to  receive  it. 
I  have  detailed  the  occurrence  fully  to  Captain  Beresford  Com 
manding  on  the  Halifax  Station,  and  forwarded  him  Copies  of 
the  Communications  between  me  and  the  Mayor  of  this  City. 
These  I  have  requested  him  to  communicate  to  you. 

You  are  perfectly  at  Liberty  to  make  what  comments  you 
please  on  what  you  have  thought  proper  to  style  my  silence 
provided  they  are  founded  on  reason  and  truth. 

Hasty  decisions  are  generally  incorrect,  and  I  trust  you  will 
after  the  perusal  of  this  letter  and  the  full  communication  I 
have  made  to  the  Naval  Commander  in  Chief  acquit  me  of  in 
attention,  and  feel  that  your  opinion  with  respect  to  myself 
was  made  up  at  a  moment,  when  it  was  not  in  your  power  to 
judge  correctly. 

I  was  yesterday  told  by  Peacok  the  Butcher,  that  he  was  to 
receive  payment  for  the  Articles  forcibly  taken  from  the  Boat 
going  down  to  you.  Should  he  fail,  an  application  shall  be 
made  by  me. 

TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York  13th  May  1806. 

SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  copies  of  a  letter  from 
Henry  Whitby  Esqr  Commander  of  His  Majestys  Ship  Lean- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  241 

der  to  me,  with  my  answer,  and  a  letter  from  me  to  Captain 
Beresford  the  present  Commander  in  Chief  of  His  Majesty s 
Ships  of  War  on  the  Halifax  Station. — 

From  a  perusal  of  these  I  trust  you  will  be  satisfied  that 
every  exertion  was  made  on  my  part  to  communicate  with 
Captain  Whitby,  while  he  was  off  this  Port.  Should  this  be 
the  case,  I  have  to  intreat  you  will  fully  acquit  me  of  Captain 
Whitbys  charge  of  silence  and  inattention  in  your  report  to 
His  Majesty  s  Ministers.  The  facts  can  be  verified  under  the 
Oaths  of  four  or  five  persons  of  respectability,  if  deemed 
necessary. 

Between  the  26th  of  April  and  second  of  May;  it  was  almost 
unsafe  for  me  to  leave  my  house,  had  I  made  my  appearance 
on  the  Wharves  or  at  the  Coffee  House  insult  and  probably 
personal  injury  would  have  been  the  consequence. —  I  once 
had  it  in  contemplation  to  have  sent  the  Pacquet  with  my  let 
ters  to  Captain  Whitby,  but  not  any  of  the  Pilots  would  have 
navigated  her,  and  as  the  Ship  was  insured,  her  indemnity 
would  have  been  on  my  shoulders,  in  the  event  of  a  deviation ; 
besides  as  the  time  of  her  sailing  was  well  known,  had  she  at 
tempted  to  move,  she  would  have  been  arrested  by  the  popu 
lace  ;  indeed  the  Packet  was  more  than  once  in  danger  during 
this  period. —  You  will  from  my  communications  to  the  Mayor 
and  his  answer  to  me,  observe  that  I  requested  from  him  and 
the  Collector  the  use  of  the  Revenue  Cutter,  then  lying  at 
Anchor  in  this  port,  for  the  purpose  of  going  or  sending 
to  Captain  Whitby  to  inform  him  of  the  accident,  and  the 
Mayor  declining  to  allow  that  Vessel  to  go. —  In  truth  every 
means  of  communication  was  cut  off ;  and  I  by  accident  dis 
covered  that  a  Man  who  I  really  believed  a  confidential  per 
son,  and  who  I  wished  to  hire  to  go  down  to  His  Majestys 
Ships,  went  and  laid  my  proposal  before  the  Mayor,  and  when 
he  returned  told  me,  he  was  afraid  to  undertake  it,  under 
a  conviction  that  it  could  not  be  effected,  and  that  he  should 
be  ever  after  odious  to  his  fellow  Citizens  if  detected. 


16 


242  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   CAPTAIN  BERESFOKD. 

New  York  28th  May  1806. 

(Private.) 
MY  DEAR  SIR. 

I  received  by  the  last  Packet  your  affectionate  letter  of  the 
9th  of  May. —  I  am  wholly  ignorant  of  the  correspondence  be 
tween  Capt  Whitby  and  the  Mayor,  except  that  part  of  the 
Mayors  answer  which  respected  my  not  having  applied  to  him 
for  his  protection,  for  the  safe  conveyance  of  the  officers  from 
hence  to  His  Majesty's  Ships  near  Sandy  Hook.  On  this  Point 
I  have  already  fully  informed  you  in  my  letter  of  the  2d  of 
May  and  laid  before  you  Copies  of  the  letters  that  passed  be 
tween  me  and  the  Mayor  on  that  subject.  It  is  probable  how 
ever  that  Mr  Merry  has  taken  notice  in  his  communications 
with  you  of  this  correspondence,  as  he  stated  some  days  since 
to  me  that  in  consequence  of  Captain  Whitby 's  letter  to  the 
Mayor  of  this  City,  the  President  had  resolved  to  put  the 
whole  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  March  1805  into  force  —  Mr 
Merry  did  not  make  any  other  remarks  on  the  letter,  nor  has 
the  President  published  a  second  proclamation. — 

Great  Britain  at  the  present  moment  has  a  sufficiency  of  En 
emies  to  contend  without  adding  the  Americans  to  the  number, 
and  the  export  of  her  manufactures  in  consequence  of  the  late 
measures  stands  now  in  a  great  degree  limited  to  America,  a 
War  therefore  with  these  States  would  be  very  unpopular  and 
prejudicial. —  I  do  not  from  hence  intend  to  infer  either  that  I 
think  a  war  probable,  because  I  know  it  to  be  of  all  things 
what  the  Americans  most  deprecate,  or  that  Great  Britain  to 
avoid  a  War,  should  cede  a  particle  of  her  rights ;  but  that  we 
should  if  possible  preserve  an  amicable  intercourse  with 
them. —  In  my  last  private  letter,  I  took  the  Liberty  to  advise 
you  until  you  was  superseded  in  your  command,  or  received 
explicit  orders  from  Government,  to  consult  with  Judge  Croke 
and  the  Chief  Justice,  on  the  subject  of  the  orders  you  might 
give  to  the  captains  of  the  Ships  under  your  Command,  re 
specting  neutral  rights  and  Jurisdiction. —  The  Laws  of  Na 
tions  on  this  subject  are  vague  and  uncertain,  and  in  most 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1804-1806  243 

cases  have  been  promulgated  under  the  influence  of  temporary 
power.  Reason  however  must  assign  a  certain  portion  of  the 
Sea,  contiguous  to  the  territory  of  every  Government,  as  within 
their  just  Jurisdiction,  and  those  limits  on  the  narrowest  pos 
sible  Scale  are  a  Grim  shot  from  the  Shore,  (which  taking  a  wide 
range  may  be  called  three  miles)  not  from  their  Batteries,  be 
cause  it  may  so  happen  that  the  Government  may  have  no 
Batteries  near  the  Sea  —  I  am  sure  my  dear  friend  your  inten 
tions  are  right,  and  I  have  a  perfect  confidence  that  your  orders 
will  be  dictated  by  sound  sense  and  prudence  — 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL  BERKELEY. 

New  York  30th  Septr  1806 
SIR 

By  this  day's  Mail  I  have  received  letters  from  Baltimore 
and  Norfolk,  stating  that  the  French  Ship  Patriot  Capt  Ro- 
chon  of  74  Guns  had  arrived  at  Annapolis  in  Maryland  and  the 
Sybelle  of  44  Guns  at  Norfolk  in  Virginia,  both  under  Jury 
topmasts,  much  disabled,  and  that  the  Patriot  has  thrown 
many  of  her  Guns  overboard  —  These  Ships  with  the  remain 
der  of  the  Squadron  under  Admiral  Williams  &  Jerome  Bona 
parte,  were  on  the  19th  of  August  (after  having  been  on  this 
coast)  about  100  Leagues  to  the  Southward  of  Bermuda,  when 
they  encountered  a  Storm  which  lasted  until  the  21st —  During 
the  Gale  the  Squadron  separated,  and  the  officers  of  the  Patriot 
have  expressed  their  fears  that  some  of  the  Ships  have  foun 
dered.  These  two  Ships  after  the  Gale  made  for  the  Chese- 
peak,  and  such  as  have  weathered  the  Storm  will  probably 
also  make  for  that  Bay.1  The  Jamaica  fleet  of  Merchant  Ships 

1  Willaumez  sailed  from  Brest  De-  commerce.     The  Cape  of  Good  Hope 

cember  14, 1805,  with  a  small  squad-  surrendered  before  he  could  reach 

ron  of  six  or  seven  vessels.    His  in-  it,   and  on    learning   this  fact    he 

structions  were  to  proceed  first  to  shaped  his  course  for  the  coast  of 

the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  thence  South  America  and  the  West  Indies, 

in  such  direction  as  he  might  deem  His  squadron  was  dispersed  by  a 

most  calculated    to   injure  British  hurricane  in  August,  1806,  as  here 


244       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

experienced  the  same  Gale  about  80  Leagues  to  the  Eastward 
of  Bermuda.  The  Captain  of  one  that  went  down  has  arrived 
at  Baltimore,  who  says  he  suspects  many  others  shared  the 
same  fate. 

I  am  sorry  to  learn  the  accident  which  has  happened  His 
Majestys  Ship  Chichester  a  Store  Ship  on  going  out  the 
Chesepeak  the  Pilot  run  her  on  shore.  She  has  sustained  so 
much  injury  that  it  has  been  thought  necessary  for  her  to  un- 
lode  at  Norfolk  and  to  be  hove  down  —  Col:  Hamilton  the 
Consul  there  writes  me  many  of  her  men  have,  and  he  appre 
hends  most  of  the  others  will  desert  — 1 


TO   ME.  FOX. 

New  York  4th  September  1806. 
SIR. 

I  yesterday  received  a  letter  from  Baltimore  in  Maryland  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract. — 

"  The  French  Ship  Patriot  of  74  Guns  Captain  Rochon  an 
chored  yesterday  in  Annapolis  Road  in  a  very  shattered  con 
dition  her  Topmasts  all  gone,  &  a  number  of  her  Guns  thrown 
overboard  a  French  Frigate  (said  to  be  the  Cybelle)  of  44 
Guns,  has  also  arrived  at  Norfolk  about  the  30th  August  dis 
masted." 

"  These  Vessels  are  part  of  the  Fleet  under  the  Command 
of  Williamez  &  Jerome  Bonaparte  which  was  dispersed  on  the 
20th  Augfc  about  150  Leagues  to  the  Southward  of  Bermuda, 
the  Gale  commenced  on  the  19th  &  continued  to  the  21st  &  the 

related  —  the  flagship  making  a  port  the  Admiral.  See  Du  Casse,  Les 
in  Havana,  four  vessels  finding  ref-  Rois  Freres  de  Napoleon  Ier,  p.  195. 
uge  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  one  be-  x  Similar  letters  were  sent  to  Ad- 
ing  stranded  on  the  Virginia  beach,  mirals  Davies  at  Jamaica,  and  Coch- 
The  Veteran,  commanded  by  Jerome  rane  at  Barbadoes. 
Bonaparte,  reached  France  in  safety.  2  Charles  James  Fox  became  For- 
It  was  the  belief  of  Decres  that  Je-  eign  Secretary  on  February  7,  1806, 
rome  had  deliberately  separated  from  after  Mr,  Pitt's  death. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  245 

officers  think  some  of  the  Ships  must  have  gone  down,  none 
of  the  others  had  arrived  in  the  Chesapeake  on  the  1st  In 
stant." — 

"  They  had  made  no  Captures  of  any  Consequence  that  I 
can  learn,  except  one  or  two  small  Bermuda  Vessels. —  It  is 
with  much  concern  I  have  to  inform  you  that  the  Fleet  from 
Jamaica  consisting  of  about  100  sail  which  left  that  Island 
about  the  1st  Aug*  experienced  the  Gale  on  the  20th  100  Leagues 
East  of  the  Capes  of  Virginia  one  of  them  the  Cumberland  of 
Leith  foundered  &  the  Captain  who  has  arrived  here  fears 
some  of  the  others  have  gone  down." 

You  must  long  since  have  been  informed  that  this  Fleet  had 
been  in  the  West  Indies  but  very  fortunately  did  little  or  no 
mischief. —  Early  in  August  they  were  seen  near  Charleston 
South  Carolina  and  some  days  after  that  about  40  Leagues  to 
the  Southward  of  this  Port.  It  was  generally  at  that  time 
supposed  that  they  were  on  their  way  to  Boston  to  refit,  but 
from  the  Latitude  and  Longitude  they  were  in  on  the  20th  of 
August  they  must  have  shaped  a  South  Easterly  course  either 
in  the  hope  of  meeting  the  Jamaica  Convoy  or  to  regain  the 
West  Indies. —  I  am  happy  to  announce  to  you  that  they  have 
hitherto  done  very  little  injury  to  British  Ships.  Some  Ameri 
can  Captains  have  been  on  board  this  fleet  they  all  agree  that 
they  were  wretchedly  manned,  their  Masts,  Spars  and  rigging 
in  a  miserable  state,  and  short  of  Provisions  and  water. 


TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York  6  Septr  1806. 

SIR. 

The  British  Letter  of  Marque  Brig  Fox,  John  Thomas  Mas 
ter  arrived  at  this  place  from  Jamaica  on  or  about  the  12th  of 
August  last  past.  On  the  18th  of  that  month  Charles  Mathews, 
George  Robinson,  John  Reid  and  Edward  Hicks  four  of  the 
crew  of  the  Brig :  went  before  the  officers  of  the  Police  of  this 

16* 


246       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

City  and  made  oath,  that  Thomas  the  Master  had  on  the  pas 
sage  willfully  murdered  a  negro  man  (one  of  the  Ships  Com 
pany)  named  John  Good  by  cruelly  and  wickedly  beating  him. 
In  consequence  of  their  depositions  Captain  Thomas  was  ap 
prehended  and  committed,  a  Bill  of  Indictment  has  since  been 
found  against  him,  and  he  has  been  arraigned  —  By  advice  of 
His  Counsel  he  has  pleaded  to  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court, 
stating  that  he  is  a  subject  of  His  Britannic  Majesty,  that  the 
crime  (if  any)  having  been  committed  on  board  a  British  Ship 
on  the  high  Seas  is  only  cognizable  in  a  British  Court.  This 
plea  has  been  overruled  by  the  district  Judge  of  the  district 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  he  has  been  ordered  to  plead 
in  chief  guilty  or  not  guilty.  The  latter  will  be  his  plea,  which 
he  declares  to  me  to  be  the  truth.  From  the  papers  I  have  the 
Honor  to  inclose  you  will  perceive  that  William  Hearst  the  mate 
or  first  officer  of  the  Brig  and  Charles  Gauverneau  the  Pas 
senger  have  deposed  the  reverse  of  the  four  Seamen  ;  they  are 
unquestionably  more  worthy  of  credit  than  the  common  Sea 
men,  and  under  the  circumstances  I  advised  the  master  some 
days  since  to  stand  his  trial,  but  Business  having  called  Mr. 
Gauverneau  to  Canada,  and  having  now  only  the  testimony  of 
the  mate  to  oppose  to  the  oaths  of  the  four  Seamen,  his  Coun 
sel  have  advised  him  to  apply  to  you,  through  me,  to  demand 
him  as  a  British  Subject,  to  be  sent  to  Great  Britain  or  Ja 
maica  for  his  trial. —  I  inclose  therefore  the  certified  docu 
ments  delivered  to  me  by  them.  Under  the  late  treaty  of 
Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  between  his  Majesty  and 
the  United  States  of  America  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  your 
right  to  demand  him,  as  a  person  charged  with  murder :  but 
as  that  treaty  has  expired,  he  can  now  only  be  demanded  un 
der  the  Laws  of  Nations.  Captain  Thomas'  counsel  are  of 
opinion  that  the  Prejudices  of  American  Jurors  against  Brit 
ish  Subjects  are  too  great  for  him  to  risque  his  Life  on  their 
verdict.  They  hope  to  put  off  the  trial  until  your  answer  can 
be  obtained,  by  making  an  affidavit  that  Gauverneau  is  a  ma 
terial  Witness. —  No  time  however  is  to  be  lost,  as  the  district 
court  are  now  sitting. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1804-1806  247 

TO   ME.   MEEEY. 

New  York  9  Septr  1806. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  was  all  day  yesterday  employed  in  search  of  a  fast  sailing 
Vessel  to  carry  the  Letters  to  Admiral  Berkeley,  but  did  not 
find  any  that  could  be  ready  before  Thursday;  and  as  the 
Lark  a  very  fine  fast  sailing  British  Schooner  a  constant  Tra 
der  sails  for  Halifax  tomorrow  I  have  thought  it  best  to  send 
them  by  her,  the  master  having  promised  to  carry  a  press  of 
sail  to  expedite  the  delivery  of  the  letters.  Two  objections 
lay  to  the  hiring  a  Pilot  Boat.  The  Pilots  of  this  Port  are 
all  Democrats  and  much  attached  to  the  French.  Secondly 
the  price  per  day  of  a  Pilot  Boat  is  twenty-five  dollars. 
There  is  too  much  reason  to  suspect  had  I  hired  one,  they 
would  have  delayed  her  passage  to  Halifax  and  possibly  back 
again ;  at  all  events  no  confidence  could  have  been  placed 
in  them  ;  and  before  they  engaged  with  me  they  would  have 
consulted  the  Mayor1  who  is  a  Frenchman  in  Grain,  who 
either  would  have  prevented  the  contract,  or  rendered  the  let 
ters  nugatory. —  I  had  written  Admiral  Berkeley  on  Saturday, 
notifying  him  of  the  arrival  of  the  Patriot  and  the  Sybelle  in 
the  Chesepeak  which  letter  is  now  in  the  Lark.  I  also  advise 
Admiral  Cochrane  of  the  circumstance.  I  hope  you  will  ap 
prove  of  my  having  put  the  letters  on  board  the  Lark  instead 
of  a  Pilot  Boat  — 


TO   ME.   FOX. 

New  York,  29th  Septr  1806 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  a  duplicate  of  my  letters 
of  the  4th  Instant,  acquainting  you  with  the  Gale  of  Wind  the 
French  Fleet  under  Admiral  Guillamez  had  encountered  to  the 

i  De  Witt  Clinton. 


248       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Southward  of  Bermuda  on  the  19,  20  &  21  of  August,  and  of  a 
Ship  of  the  Line  and  a  Frigate  of  that  Fleet  having  got  into  the 
Chesepeak  in  a  very  wretched  state,  under  jury  topmasts  and 
most  of  their  Guns  having  been  thrown  overboard. —  Since 
that  the  Valereux  Frigate  has  got  into  the  Delaware  in  a  sim 
ilar  State,  and  the  Eole  a  line  of  Battle  Ship  equally  a  wreck 
has  arrived  within  the  capes  of  Virginia  —  The  Impetueux 
another  of  that  fleet  made  the  capes  of  Virginia  some  days 
since,  but  was  discovered  by  the  Melampus  Frigate  one  of  the 
Squadron  who  pursued  and  ran  her  on  shore,  took  the  officers 
and  men  out  and  burnt  the  Ship.  I  have  understood  that  the 
officers  and  men  were  immediately  landed  and  set  at  Liberty, 
having  been  taken  within  the  American  marine  Jurisdiction  — 
The  Americans  complain  of  the  act  of  the  burning  of  the 
French  Line  of  Battle  Ship  within  their  "Waters. 

A  British  Squadron  under  Sir  R  Strahan  arrived  off  the 
Capes  of  Virginia  about  the  12th  of  this  month,  from  the  best 
accounts  this  Squadron  also  suffered  much  during  the  Gale  in 
August;  and  on  the  20th  Instant  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren 
with  six  sail  of  the  Line  also  arrived  there :  and  I  suspect  con 
tinue  off  and  on  the  Capes  in  expectation  of  some  of  the  French 
Ships  arriving  there.  An  American  Captain  who  arrived  here 
about  a  Week  since  states  that  he  met  Jerome  Bonaparte  in 
his  Ship  at  Sea,  on  her  way  to  France  —  It  is  generally  sup 
posed  that  the  remainder  of  the  French  Ships  foundered  in  the 
Gale  —  Those  within  the  Capes,  will  probably  remain  some 
time,  as  they  require  great  repairs,  and  it  is  said  no  merchant 
will  advance  money. 


TO   ME.  MEEEY. 

New  York  25  October  1800 
SIR. 

It  was  not  until  late  last  Evening  that  I  received  an  answer 
from  the  Counsel  of  Captain  Thomas  of  the  Brig  Fox  to  the 
Communication  contained  in  your  N°  14  and  the  Copy  of  Mr 
Madisons  letter  accompanying  it.  They  are  of  opinion  that  an 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1804-1806  249 

appeal  in  Criminal  Cases  will  not  lay  from  the  district  Court 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  altho  the  Laws 
have  provided  for  an  appeal  in  such  cases :  And  that  therefore 
the  remedy  proposed  by  the  American  Secretary  of  State  if  at 
tempted  would  meet  with  a  negative  on  the  part  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  probably  in  the  first  instance 
be  over  ruled  by  the  District  Judge.  The  Counsel  are  further 
of  opinion  that  in  a  similar  case  if  application  had  been  made 
by  any  nation  in  amity  with  Great  Britain  for  the  delivery  of  a 
Subject  of  such  nation  charged  with  murder,  that  the  person 
so  charged  would  be  delivered  up ;  and  that  a  case  can  not  be 
cited,  wherein  Great  Britain  has  refused  the  application,  and 
the  Court  proceeded  to  try  and  sentence  the  person  so  charged. 
They  admit  that  applications  have  been  made,  and  refused,  but 
in  such  cases  the  murder  was  committed  by  the  Foreigner  on 
the  high  Seas  on  board  a  British  Ship,  upon  the  principle  that 
the  Ship  constituted  the  Jurisdiction.—  Mr  Harison  one  of  the 
Counsel  for  the  Prisoner  is  allowed  to  be  one  of  (if  not)  the  sound 
est  Lawyer  in  America. —  Unless  therefore  you  feel  yourself 
at  Liberty  to  make  a  second  application  for  the  delivery  of 
Thomas,  and  it  proves  more  successful  than  the  former,  the 
poor  man  must  go  to  Trial  early  in  November  under  all  the 
disadvantages  of  the  want  of  Witnesses  and  probably  a  preju 
diced  Jury.1 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL  BERKELEY. 

New  York  17th  November,  1806. 

Sm. 

In  consequence  of  Mr  Merry's  request  for  leave  of  absence ; 
The  Honorable  David  Erskine  has  arrived  at  Washington  in 
these  States  as  His  Majesty s  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minis 
ter  Plenipotentiary  and  has  been  received  as  such  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.2  Mr  Merry  has  taken  leave  and 

1  No  record  of  this  case  can  now  brought  to  trial,  the  evidence  against 
be  found  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  him  being  really  very  weak. 
United  States  District  Court.     It  is  2  Mr.  Erskine  arrived  at  Washing- 
probable  that  Thomas   was  never  ton,  November  4,  1806. 


250       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

will  sail  from  the  Chesapeak  in  all  this  month.  Mrs  Merry's 
state  of  health  is  unequal  to  a  Winter  voyage  —  I  have  a  pub 
lic  dispatch  from  Mr  Merry  to  you,  but  he  has  limited  its  con 
veyance  to  the  Ship  of  "War  or  armed  Vessel  you  may  send 
during  the  Winter  for  your  dispatches.  —  The  September 
Packet  is  not  yet  arrived,  in  a  few  days  the  October  will  be 
due. —  Accounts  by  private  Ships  from  England,  state  that 
Lord  Howie  has  succeeded  to  foreign  department  vacant  by 
Mr  Fox's  demise,  and  that  Mr  T  Greville  is  first  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty.1  On  the  26th  of  September  Lord  Lauderdale  had 
not  returned  from  Paris;  yet  there  was  no  expectation  of 
Peace. —  Russia  and  Prussia  appear  condensing  their  forces 
and  making  every  preparation  for  War  with  France ;  who  is 
equally  active  in  her  measures. 

The  Valeureux  French  Frigate  of  44  Guns  which  arrived 
after  the  August  Gale  in  the  Delaware  and  went  up  to  Phila 
delphia  for  repairs,  has  on  a  survey  been  found  unworthy  of 
them. — A  fine  American  Ship  the  George  Washington  of  up 
wards  of  400  Tons,  with  a  figure  head,  quarter  and  Stern  Gal- 
laries  and  new  main  topmast  has  been  taken  up  to  carry  to 
France  the  men,  Guns  and  Stores  of  this  Frigate,  she  will  sail 
about  the  25  of  this  month.  The  Indiana  another  American 
Ship  was  a  few  days  since  along  side  the  Valeureux  taking 
from  her  such  part  of  her  Guns,  Stores  and  men,  as  were  sup 
posed  more  than  the  Washington  could  carry,  this  last  named 
ship  will  sail  in  a  few  days.  As  either  of  these  ships  would  in 
the  event  of  capture  prove  good  and  valuable  prizes,  I  have 
dispatched  two  letters  on  Saturday  last  to  Halifax,  one  to 
Norfolk  and  two  by  Vessels  bound  to  the  West  Indies  to 
be  given  to  any  of  the  Commanders  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  of 
War.  I  have  little  hope  that  either  of  my  letters  will  arrive 
at  Halifax  in  time  to  have  a  ship  (if  any  is  there)  off  the  Dela 
ware  to  meet  the  George  Washington.  But  that  of  Norfolk  I 
trust  will  be  delivered  this  Evening,  and  it  is  probable  one 
of  the  others  may  be  put  on  board  one  of  your  Ships  on  this 
coast. 

1  Mr.  Thomas  Grenville,  a  brother  of  the  Lord  Grenville  who  was 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  from  1791  to  1801. 


1804-1806  251 

TO  LORD   HOWICK.1 

New  York  6th  Deer  1806. 
MY  LOED, 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  yonr  Lordship  the  Speech  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  on  the  opening  of  the  pres 
ent  Session  of  Congress. — 

It  is  asserted  and  generally  believed  that  Mr  Burr  late  vice 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  at  the  head  of 
that  "  great  number  of  private  Individuals  who  "  (the  Presi 
dent  in  his  Speech  observes)  "  were  combining  together  arm 
ing  and  organizing  themselves  contrary  to  Law  to  carry  on  a 
military  expedition  against  the  territories  of  Spain." — The 
object  of  this  combination  is  not  known.  "What  the  President 
suggests  may  be  correct  j  but  it  appears  to  be  the  opinion  of 
the  best  informed  in  these  States,  that  Mr  Burr's  views  extend 
to  a  division  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  creating  a 
new  Government  in  the  Western  part  thereof  — 

i  On  Mr.  Fox's  death,  September  but  on  September  24,  Lord  Howick, 
13, 1806,  the  Foreign  Office  was  com-  afterward  Earl  Grey,  became  Sec- 
mitted  to  Earl  Spencer  ad  interim  ;  retary  for  Foreign  Affairs. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812 

same  month  of  April  that  witnessed  the  killing 
of  Pearce  had  witnessed  also  the  beginning  of  that 
long  and  fruitless  struggle  which  Jefferson  and  Madison 
carried  on,  in  the  vain  hope  of  compelling  the  European 
belligerents  to  respect  the  just  rights  of  the  United 
States  as  a  neutral  nation.  On  April  15, 1806,  Congress 
had  passed  the  non-importation  act,  prohibiting  the  im 
portation  of  a  long  list  of  British  manufactures,  and 
this  had  been  immediately  followed  by  the  appointment 
of  William  Pinkney  of  Maryland  as  a  special  envoy  to 
England.  Pinkney  was  instructed  to  unite  with  Mon 
roe,  then  American  Minister  to  England,  in  one  more 
effort  to  effect  an  amicable  settlement  of  all  differences ; 
but  they  were  to  agree  to  no  treaty  which  did  not  in 
clude  a  renunciation  of  the  right  of  impressment,  and 
which  did  not  satisfactorily  settle  the  questions  con 
nected  with  the  West  India  trade.  Pinkney  had  joined 
Monroe  in  London  late  in  July,  and  negotiations  had 
since  been  actively  carried  on  with  the  government  of 
which  Mr.  Fox  was  the  head. 

This  was  the  situation  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1807,  so  far  as  was  known  in  America ;  but  important 
events  had,  in  fact,  happened  in  Europe,  of  which  the 
news  had  not  yet  arrived.  On  the  last  day  of  the  year 
1806  Monroe  and  Pinkney  had  succeeded  in  getting  the 
British  commissioners  to  sign  a  treaty  of  amity,  corn- 

252 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  253 

merce,  and  navigation.  The  negotiation  had  been  greatly 
facilitated  by  the  simple  process  of  disregarding  the  pos 
itive  instructions  of  the  President.  But  even  then  the 
British  negotiators  were  not  entirely  content  with  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  and  they  accompanied  their  signa 
tures  by  a  written  warning  that  the  King  would  decline 
to  ratify  their  act  unless  the  United  States  should  forci 
bly  resist  the  operation  of  Napoleon's  Berlin  decree. 

The  Berlin  decree,  which  was  soon  to  become  familiar 
throughout  the  United  States,  was  dated  November  21, 

1806.  It  undertook,  by  a  mere  edict  of  the  Emperor's, 
to  prohibit  all  commerce,  even  in  neutral  vessels,  be 
tween  the  British  islands  or  colonies  and  any  part  of  the 
European  continent  which  was  under  the  control  of 
France ;  it  declared  the  British  islands  to  be  in  a  state 
of  blockade ;  and  it  directed  the  confiscation  of  any  ves 
sel  which  entered  a  continental  port  after  having  been 
in  any  British  possession. 

The  English  Government  were  not  slow  to  reply.  In 
addition  to  calling  upon  the  United  States  to  resist  the 
decree,  an  order  in  council  was  issued  on  January  7, 

1807,  by  which  all  trade  was  forbidden  between  any 
two  ports  on  the  continent  of  Europe.     The  doctrine 
that  one  nation  could  forbid  another  to  trade  peace 
fully  between  two  foreign  ports,  was  certainly  novel. 
But  the  British  authorities   were  still  not  satisfied. 
They  went  further,  and  by  a  second  order  in  council, 
dated  November  11,  1807,  they  forbade  all  trade  with 
the  continent  wherever  originating,  unless  the  goods 
first  passed  through  an  English  port  and  paid  a  duty  at 
an  English  custom-house. 

Napoleon,  in  his  turn,  retaliated  by  the  Milan  decree 
of  December  17,  1807.  Every  neutral  vessel  was  to 
be  condemned  which  had  submitted  to  be  searched  by 


254        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

a  British  ship,  or  had  paid  duty  to  the  British  Govern 
ment,  or  had  come  from  or  was  bound  to  any  British 
possession. 

Such  were  the  arbitrary  decrees  and  orders  by  which 
neutral  commerce  was  attacked  on  every  side.  The 
British  Government  allowed  no  neutral  ship  to  go  to  the 
continent  but  by  way  of  England.  The  French  seized 
every  neutral  ship  that  came  from  any  British  port. 
The  British  Government  declared  they  would  be  friends 
with  the  United  States  only  on  condition  of  our  forci 
bly  resisting  the  Berlin  decree.  Napoleon  declared  that 
he  would  confiscate  every  American  ship  which  did  not 
forcibly  resist  any  attempt  of  a  British  man-of-war  to 
search  her. 

The  news  of  this  general  assault  upon  American  com 
merce  —  this  declaration  of  both  parties  to  the  European 
contest  that  there  should  be  no  more  neutrals  —  excited 
the  deepest  resentment  in  the  United  States.  But  it  did 
not  affect  the  action  of  the  Government  in  regard  to  the 
British  treaty.  Before  the  news  of  the  first  order  in 
council  had  reached  Washington,  Jefferson  had  per 
emptorily  declined  to  consider  the  question  of  ratifi 
cation,  or  even  to  submit  the  treaty  to  the  Senate.  But 
strangely  enough,  he  was  still  hopeful  of  success.  In 
spite  of  the  difficulties  which  Monroe  and  Pinkney  had 
already  experienced,  in  spite  of  new  obstacles  to  an  ad 
justment,  instructions  were  prepared  looking  to  further 
negotiations  with  England.  This  second  attempt  came, 
however,  too  late.  The  growing  ill-will  between  the 
two  countries,  and  the  fall  of  the  Whig  administration 
early  in  1807,  had  already  served  to  render  negotiation 
practically  impossible ;  when  the  attack  of  the  Leopard 
upon  the  Chesapeake  toward  the  latter  part  of  June, 
aroused  American  feelings  to  a  still  higher  pitch  of  an- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  255 

ger.  After  months  of  discussion,  and  some  idle  at 
tempts  at  obtaining  satisfaction  by  diplomatic  methods, 
public  opinion  at  last  found  expression  in  the  passage 
by  Congress,  on  December  22,  1807,  of  the  act  of  em 
bargo,  which  absolutely  closed  the  ports  of  the  United 
States  to  foreign  commerce  of  every  kind. 

The  effect  on  the  city  of  New- York  was  instantaneous. 
Ships  were  hurried  to  sea,  wharves  were  left  deserted, 
counting-houses  were  shut  up,  and  the  ordinary  duties 
of  the  British  Consul-General  came  very  nearly  to  an  end. 

The  United  States  comprised  even  then  a  great  va 
riety  of  resources  within  their  borders,  and  were  able 
— though  doubtless  at  the  expense  of  not  a  little  suffer 
ing  —  to  dispense  with  foreign  markets  either  for  sell 
ing  or  buying;  but  such  a  state  of  things  could  not 
long  continue.  Congress  had  never  contemplated  its 
duration  beyond  the  time  when  loss  of  the  American 
trade  should  make  Europe  more  moderate  in  its  views. 
But  Europe  was  not  to  be  moved  by  any  peaceful  ar 
guments,  and  the  experiment  was  of  necessity  aban 
doned  after  a  patient  trial.  All  through  the  year  1808 
and  the  first  two  months  of  1809,  the  heavy  hand  of  the 
embargo  was  laid  on  American  commerce.  The  close 
of  Jefferson's  administration  was  signalized  by  an  im 
portant  change  in  the  policy  of  the  American  Govern 
ment.  Almost  the  last  act  which  Jefferson  performed 
as  President  was  to  sign  the  new  law  which  repealed 
the  embargo,  and  substituted  non-intercourse  —  a  law 
which  instead  of  universal  prohibition  of  trade,  merely 
prohibited  commerce  with  Great  Britain  and  with  the 
countries  under  French  control.  The  statute  further 
authorized  the  President  to  suspend  this  prohibition  as 
to  either  Great  Britain  or  France  as  soon  as  one  or  the 
other  should  desist  from  violating  neutral  rights. 


256  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

An  excuse  for  renewing  commercial  relations  was 
not  long  delayed.  On  April  21, 1809,  immediately  upon 
the  rather  unexpected  conclusion  of  a  liberal  and  satis 
factory  diplomatic  arrangement  with  Erskine,  the  Brit 
ish  minister  in  Washington,  the  non-intercourse  act 
was  suspended  as  to  Great  Britain ;  and  foreign  trade, 
long  dormant,  suddenly  sprang  into  excessive  activity. 
This  happy  truce  was  short-lived.  Erskine  had  effected 
his  arrangement  by  a  deliberate  and  almost  defiant  dis 
regard  of  Canning's  instructions;  and  his  acts  were 
promptly  disavowed  by  his  government.  His  recall 
was  followed  by  a  renewal  of  non-intercourse  under  a 
presidential  proclamation  of  August  9,  1809. 

But  notwithstanding  the  disavowal  of  Erskine,  the 
British  Grovernment  had  made  an  apparent  concession 
to  the  United  States  by  the  adoption  of  new  orders  in 
council  which  revoked  the  stringent  prohibitions  of 
the  orders  of  1807,  and  substituted  a  paper  blockade  of 
all  ports  and  places  under  the  government  of  France — 
a  distinction  which,  on  the  whole,  was  perhaps  without 
any  important  difference.  France,  on  the  other  hand, 
entered  upon  a  course  of  further  aggressions.  Louis 
Bonaparte  was  driven  from  his  kingdom  of  Holland 
because  he  refused  to  attack  neutral  commerce,  and  all 
American  ships  found  lying  at  Amsterdam  were  seized. 
Finally,  by  the  decree  of  Eambouillet,  every  American 
ship  found  in  any  French  port  was  confiscated  and  or 
dered  sold. 

England  and  the  United  States  thus  seemed  for  the 
moment  to  be  slowly  drawing  together  in  the  presence 
of  a  common  enemy,  when  suddenly  the  whole  situa 
tion  of  affairs  was  changed  by  the  formal  announcement 
on  August  5, 1810,  of  the  Emperor's  intended  revocation 
of  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan,  such  revocation  to 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  257 

take  place  on  the  first  day  of  the  following  November, 
provided  the  British  Government  revoked  their  orders 
in  council,  or  (and  this  was  the  important  provision) 
the  United  States  caused  their  rights  to  be  respected. 
This  promise,  as  Napoleon  had  privately  pointed  out 
a  few  days  before,  committed  him  to  nothing;  but  it 
was  accepted  with  all  seriousness  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States. 

In  reliance  upon  the  imperial  word,  commercial  in 
tercourse  with  Great  Britain  —  which  had  been  once 
more  resumed  in  May,  1810  —  was  for  the  third  time 
suspended.  This,  it  was  thought,  was  "  causing  Ameri 
can  rights  to  be  respected  " ;  and  although  the  condem 
nation  of  American  ships  went  on  without  a  pause  in 
every  continental  port,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  clung  with  the  strangest  pertinacity  to  the  belief 
that  Napoleon's  declarations  were  sincere. 

The  practical  effect  of  all  this  was  to  bar  the  door 
against  any  possible  settlement  with  Great  Britain. 
Commerce  was  now  permanently  suspended ;  there  was 
a  long  list  of  grievances  to  be  redressed,  and  negotia 
tion  was  exhausted.  In  the  month  of  February,  1811, 
Pinkney  —  who  had  become  the  sole  American  repre 
sentative  in  London  —  took  an  "  inamicable  leave," 
and  further  efforts  looking  to  a  peaceful  settlement 
of  our  accumulated  difficulties  with  England  were 
abandoned.  On  November  4,  1811,  Congress  met  in  a 
perplexed  but  somewhat  warlike  humor.  Much  tedi 
ous  debate  ensued.  It  was  not  until  June  18,  1812, 
after  many  hesitations  and  misgivings,  that  war  was 
actually  declared  against  Great  Britain. 

On  July  9,  1812,  Colonel  Barclay,  accompanied  by 
the  British  Minister,  sailed  from  New- York  on  H.  M.  S. 
Colibri  for  England. 


17 


258        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

The  six  preceding  years  had  been  for  Barclay  a  pe 
riod  of  quiet  prosperity.  His  life  had  been  easy  and 
happy.  His  fortune  had  increased  through  judicious 
investments  and  reasonable  economy.  His  eldest  son, 
Henry,  was  now  well  established  as  a  merchant  in  New- 
York.  De  Laricey  had  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
major  in  the  British  army  on  August  23,  1810,  and 
lieutenant-colonel  on  February  28,  1812.  Thomas,  on 
June  8,  1808,  had  become  Vice-Admiral  Cochrane's 
flag-lieutenant,  and  on  June  14, 1809,  had  been  given  a 
ship  —  commanding  successively  the  Epervier,  Snap, 
and  Peruvian  —  with  the  rank  of  commander.  George 
had  left  Nova  Scotia  in  1808  to  join  Henry  in  business 
in  New- York ;  while  Anthony  had  gone  to  England  to 
complete  his  education  and  study  for  the  bar.  Only 
one  break  in  the  family  had  come  by  death.  On  July 
8,  1809,  Schuyler  Livingston,  the  husband  of  Barclay's 
eldest  daughter,  died  at  Harlem. 


New  York  24  January  1807. 
SIR 

Several  fast  sailing  pilot  boat  Schooners  and  perhaps  other 
Vessels  have  been  for  some  time  past  employed  in  bringing 
Spanish  Dollars  from  Vera  Cruz  to  these  States  a  great  pro 
portion  of  which  I  understand  has  been  landed  at  New  Or 
leans,  Savannah  in  Georgia,  and  Charleston  South  Carolina; 
large  sums  also  at  Baltimore  in  Maryland  and  perhaps  two  or 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  this  City.  It  is  said  and  I 
believe  with  truth  that  the  house  of  Messrs  Hope's  of  Amster 
dam  and  an  extensive  house  at  Hamburg,  have  either  pur 
chased  these  Dollars  from  the  King  of  Spain  deliverable  to 
them  at  Vera  Cruz;  or  that  they  have  contracted  to  bring 
them  from  thence  and  on  their  arrival  in  Europe,  or  the  pro- 


1807-1812  259 

ceeds  from  them  to  pay  the  Spanish  Government  —  The  Dol 
lars  when  they  arrive  in  these  States  I  suspect  are  employed 
in  purchasing  Cotton  Coffee  Sugar  &c  &c  &c  which  are  re 
mitted  to  Europe  —  The  Schooner  pilot  Boats  in  which  most 
if  not  all  the  money  is  brought,  are  low,  long  vessels,  very 
sharp  and  sail  fast.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  give  you  this  in 
formation  and  hope  you  may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  intercept 
some  of  them.  Mr  Parish  one  of  the  House  at  Hamburgh  is 
in  these  States  superintending  the  Business,  but  he  has  re 
spectable  merchants  in  the  Ports  mentioned  acting  as  his 
Agents,  or  perhaps  in  their  own  names1 — 


TO   ME.  ERSKINE. 

New  York  2d  February  1807 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  am  this  day  honored  with  your  private  letter  of  the  30th  of 
January  covering  two  Proclamations  from  Sir  Eyre  Coote 
Lieut  Governor  of  Jamaica  which  I  will  take  care  to  have 
inserted  in  the  News  Papers  of  this  city.2 

Previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  letter  I  had  noticed  in  the 
Aurora  a  newspaper  published  in  Philadelphia  a  violent  Phil 
ippic  against  me  for  the  letter  I  had  written  in  favor  of 
Mess™  Rutgers  and  Seaman  the  owners  of  the  American  Ship 
Messenger,  and  of  which  Mr  Madison  has  complained  to  you.3 

1  Copies  of  the  foregoing  letter  land  to  Yorktown,  and  was  appointed 
were  also  sent  to  Vice-Admiral  Da-  Governor  of    Jamaica   in    1805  —  a 
vies,    Jamaica ;    and  Rear-Admiral  post  he  held  till  1808.     He  died  in 
Cochrane,  Barbadoes.  obscurity  and  disgrace  about  1824. 

2  They  were  proclamations  per-  3  The    "violent    Philippic"    was 
mitting  the  importation  and  expor-  published  in  the  Aurora  January  29, 
tation  of  certain  articles,  for  a  lim-  1807.     The   following  extracts  will 
ited  period,  in  neutral  vessels.     This  give  a  sufficient  notion  of  its  purport: 
Sir  Eyre  Coote  was  a  nephew  of  the 

better-known  East  Indian  General  "WARMLY  FEDERAL." 

of  the  same  name.     He  had  served        w«  promised  to  say  something  about 

in  the  American  War  from  Long  Is-     the  ship  Messenger ;  we  can  say  a  great 


260 


COREESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 


Messrs  Rutgers  and  Seaman  of  this  City  Merchants  and  own 
ers  of  the  Messenger  on  hearing  that  their  Ship,  on  board  of 
which  Mr  Herman  Rutgers  was  super  Cargo,  had  been  sent  to 
Halifax  for  adjudication  requested  of  me  a  letter  of  introduc 
tion  and  recommendation  to  some  Gentleman  of  that  place. 
In  compliance  with  their  solicitation  I  wrote  a  private  confi 
dential  Letter,  which  I  understand  has  been  improperly  inter 
cepted  and  published,  to  M.r  Hartshorne  a  merchant  in  Halifax, 
and  knowing  Mr  Hartshorne  so  far  to  have  taken  an  interest  in 
the  Politics  of  these  States  as  to  have  a  predeliction  for  the 
federal  Party  to  induce  him  the  more  readily  to  act  in  favor  of 
these  Gentlemen  it  is  very  probable  I  represented  them,  agree 
able  to  their  general  characters,  to  be  "  warm  Federalists  " — 
With  the  Politics  of  this  Country  I  never  did  nor  will  I  ever 
interfere  —  Messrs  Rutgers  and  Seaman  are  Gentlemen  of  re 
spectability  in  this  City,  of  whom  I  have  little  personal  Know 
ledge,  we  do  not  visit,  nor  have  I  ever  met  them  in  company. 


deal  more ,  than  even  what  we  now  shall 
say ;  and  the  new  advocate  of  the  "  great 
sea  robber"  may,  perhaps  before  we 
have  done,  wish  that  the  thing  had  not 
been  meddled  with. 

"Mr.  Rutgers  is  a  gentleman  and 
warmly  federal"  said  Mr.  Barclay. — 

Did  you  ever  see  a  cat  catch  a  mouse? 

When  a  cat  catches  some  kind  of  mice— 
they  are  eat  up  — they  are  devoured  at 
once  —  smack— 'tis  gone ! 

These  are  your  democratic  mice  —  we 
recollect  that  a  great  noise  was  made  in 
congress  some  nine  or  ten  years  ago 
about  such  things. 

But  there  are  rats,  which  the  cats 
sometimes  catch.  Did  you  ever  see  a 
cat  play  with  a  rat  ? 

One  of  your  "  warm,  federal "  rats  — 

Puss,  when  she  catches  this  species  of 
rats,  lets  them  go  a  bit ;  —  then  she  puts 
out  her  nether  paw  and  catches  them 
again  —  you  would  suppose  that  she  be 
came  fond  of  them,  from  the  fraternal 
hugs  she  gives  them,  she  tosses  them 
up  —  they  are  a  little  alarmed  —  the  rats 
then  cry  out  that  they  are  "warmly 
federal." 

Puss  lets  them  go  then  —  but  she  sends 
them  off  in  a  direction  from  their  natu 


ral  holes  —  and  they  fall  into  the  proctor 
traps,  and  the  lawyer  traps,  and  the 
agency  traps.  There  the  rats  again 
squeak  out  that  they  are  "warmly  fed 
eral." 

They  are  then  put  under  the  great 
Tom  cat  of  the  admiralty  —  Puss  catches 
them  and  tosses  them  and  paws  them, 
and  plays  with  them,  and  gives  them 
hopes  of  escaping. 

But  at  last  Tom  Puss  after  amusing 
himself  with  them  until  he  is  tired  of 
play— notwithstanding  all  their  protes 
tations  of  being  "  warmly  federal  rats 
and  gentleman  rats"  pounces  upon 
them,  and  devours  and  eats  them,  just 
as  she  would  the  democratic  mice  — the 
last  squeak  is  all  that  is  heard  of  them  — 
so  of  the  ship  Messenger. 

The  object  of  the  British  government 
is  to  cramp  your  trade  in  order  that  they 
may  monopolize  it  — for  this  they  plun 
der  you,  and  care  little  whether  federal, 
quiddical  or  dcmocratical.  They  may 
not  devour  you  at  once,  as  hungry  cats 
swallow  mice,  but  they  will  play  with 
you,  and  tantalize,  and  deceive  you,  as 
federal  rats  —  but  they  will  devour  you 
all  if  they  can  at  last. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  261 

But  in  describing  a  Gentleman,  I  suspect  I  am  entitled  to  say 
he  is  a  Federalist  or  an  antifederalist  as  he  and  the  person  to 
whom  he  is  recommended  may  happen  to  be  without  giving  of 
fense  to  the  opposite  Party.  Had  these  Gentlemen  been  anti- 
federal  and  Mr  Hartshorn es  sentiments  corresponded  with 
theirs,  I  assuredly  should  have  described  them  to  him  as  such. 


TO    MB.  EESKINE. 

New  York  10th  March  1807. 
DEAR  SIR 

I  am  particularly  indebted  to  you  for  your  private  letter  of 
the  5th  Instant,  at  a  moment  when  you  must  have  been  more 
than  ordinarily  hurried  &  I  shall  bear  in  memory  this  flatter 
ing  proof  of  your  attention  and  regard,  for  which  I  irttreat 
your  acceptance  of  my  warmest  acknowledgments.  I  am 
sorry  that  a  treaty  formed  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty  with 
every  wish  for  consideration  should  not  meet  the  approbation 
or  at  least  the  acceptance  of  the  President  of  these  States.1 

On  the  impressment  of  American  Seamen,  I  feel  assured 
that  the  Commissioners  of  both  nations  on  debating  the 
Subject  found  insuperable  difficulties,  and  on  mature  re 
flection  considered  it  best  to  pass  it  sub  silentio. —  The  im 
pressment  has  for  years  past  been  used  as  a  political  Engine, 
when  in  truth  the  number  of  bona  fide  American  Seamen  de 
tained  on  board  His  Majesty s  Ships  of  War  was  trifling  in  the 
extreme  when  compared  with  those  who  were  claimed  by 
America  as  such. —  The  Note  delivered  by  the  British  Commrs 
to  the  American  Comrs  prior  to  the  signing  of  the  Treaty 
was  dictated  by  imperious  circumstances  and  necessary  for 

1  This  was  the  treaty  negotiated  dent  to  submit  the  treaty  to  the  Sen- 

by  Monroe  and  Pinkney  and  signed  ate.     This  Mr.  Jefferson  steadfastly 

December  31,  1806.     Erskine's  copy  refused  to  do.    The  treaty  itself  and 

arrived  in  Washington  on  March  3,  accompanying     correspondence     is 

just  as  Congress  was  adjourning,  and  printed  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  For. 

his  unusual  hurry  was  due  to  his  un-  Eel.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  109-183. 
availing  efforts  to  induce  the  Presi- 

17* 


262        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  security  of  the  Interest  of  Britain,  I  might  add  for  the  in 
terest  of  America.1 

If  upon  reflection  you  feel  yourself  at  Liberty  to  entrust  to 
me  a  copy  of  the  treaty  in  confidence  that  it  shall  not  be  made 
public,  otherwise  than  in  arguing  on  it,  I  think  much  good 
might  be  derived  from  an  early  development  of  the  Articles 
attended  with  the  natural  remarks  on  the  benefits  or  disadvan 
tages  accruing  from  each  of  them,  and  a  candid  enquiry  into 
the  purport  of  the  note  delivered  with  the  Treaty.  Should  you 
concur  in  opinion  with  me,  not  a  moment  is  to  be  lost  in  trans 
mitting  the  Copy.  The  Public  mind  altho'  much  agitated  is 
still  in  suspense  for  want  of  material  to  form  an  opinion.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  add  that  under  these  circumstances,  a  favor 
able  impression  is  of  great  consequence. 


TO    VICE-ADMIKAL    BERKELEY. 

New  York  31st  March  1807. 
SIR. 

In  the  inclosed  newspaper  you  will  perceive  a  statement  that 
the  American  Ship  Brutus  of  this  place  bound  for  Gonaives  a 
small  Island  near  St  Domingo,  had  exchanged  some  shots  with 
His  Majestys  Sloop  of  War  Squirrel.— If  this  should  have 
been  the  case  that  ship  has  become  a  lawful  prize,  and  I  take 
it  for  granted  you  will  be  anxious  to  have  her  taken,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  very  improper  conduct  of  her  Commander  in  fir 
ing  upon  one  of  His  Majestys  Ships.  Mr  Lewis  the  Supercargo 
or  Agent  on  board  this  Ship,  and  who  probably  commanded 
her,  is  the  very  person  who  when  he  commanded  the  American 
Ship  Leaiider  fired  into  His  Majestys  Ship  Fortunio  and  killed 
a  seaman.2 — What  renders  the  conduct  of  M1  Lewis  particularly 

1  This    extraordinary  note   is  in  bound  by  the  signature  of  his  com- 

Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Vol.  missioners. 

Ill,  p.  151.    It  was  to  the  effect  that  a  The    Leander,    commanded    by 

unless   the   American   Government  Thomas    Lewis,    carried   Miranda's 

should  forcibly  resist  the  enforce-  filibusters  to  South  America  in  Feb- 

inent  of  Bonaparte's  Berlin  decree,  ruary,  1806. 
the  King  would  not  consider  himself 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  263 

blameable  is  his  having  promised  me  in  the  event  of  his  meet 
ing  one  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  of  War  at  sea,  that  he  would 
deliver  up  a  deserter  from  the  Packet,  who  had  entered  on 
board  the  Brutus,  in  consequence  of  which  I  gave  him  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  the  Commander  of  His  Majesty  s  Ships  of 
War. 

The  Brutus  was  bound  to  St  Domingo  for  the  recovery  of 
Debts  due  a  Mr  Ogden  a  Bankrupt,  who  also  was  on  board  that 
Ship,  and  to  receive  payment  in  Coffee  and  other  articles. 
Capt  Byam  knows  this  Ship,  as  he  saw  her  repeatedly  when 
he  was  last  here. —  She  is  a  french  built  Ship,  figure  head, 
Quarter  galleries,  but  I  do  not  recollect  whether  she  has  stern 
galleries. — When  she  arrived  here  from  the  Isle  of  France 
two  years  since  her  name  was  the  James,  since  that  the  Em 
peror,  and  now  the  Brutus. —  She  will  remain  some  time  at 
the  Island  of  Gonaives. 


TO  LOED  HOWICK. 

New  York  2"  June  1807. 
MY  LORD — 

Mr  Cazeaux  a  Frenchman  who  has  resided  as  French  Consul 
some  years  at  Portsmouth  in  New  Hampshire  went  last  Au 
tumn  to  France  with  an  intention  of  remaining  there.  On  his 
arrival  he  had  an  interview  with  the  Emperor  and  several  with 
Tallyrand  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  sent  out  early  this 
Spring  to  America,  went  to  Washington  to  confer  with  the 
French  Minister,  and  has  proceeded  to  Portsmouth  with  a  view 
of  entering  Canada  by  the  State  of  Vermont. — He  has  acquired 
during  his  residence  in  America  the  English  language  and 
American  manners  to  a  degree  which  will  enable  him  to  pass 
as  an  American,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  his  object  is  to 
sound  the  dispositions  of  the  Canadians  in  the  event  of  an  at 
tempt  on  Canada.  Of  all  this  I  have  informed  Mr  Dunn  ad 
ministering  the  Government  of  Lower  Canada,  and  gave  him 
a  particular  description  of  his  age,  person  and  appearance,  so 
that  I  hope  he  may  be  apprehended. —  I  have  reason  to  expect 


264        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

he  will  endeavor  to  tamper  with  the  inhabitants  of  Vermont 
and  those  parts  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massa 
chusetts  which  lay  nearest  Canada,  to  induce  them  to  cooper 
ate  with  a  French  Force  should  they  arrive  in  Canada.  I  have 
considered  it  my  duty  to  communicate  this  to  your  Lord 
ship,  that  it  may  be  laid  before  His  Majesty.  Every  means  in 
my  power  shall  be  used  to  disclose  the  extent  of  Mr  Cazeaux 
mission  to  America  —  He  is  to  return  to  France  this  Autumn. 


TO   ME.   CANNING.1 

New  York  2d  July  1807. 
SIR. 

A  very  unpleasant  occurrence  has  lately  taken  place  at  Sea 
off  the  Capes  of  Virginia  between  His  Majesty s  Ship  Leopard 
and  the  American  Ship  of  War  Chesapeak ;  of  which  you  will 
undoubtedly  receive  much  more  correct  information  from  Mr. 
Erskine  His  Majestys  Minister  to  these  States,  and  from  Mr. 
Hamilton  the  British  Consul,  than  it  is  at  present  in  my  power 
to  give  you.2 

I  shall  only  therefore  state  that  the  circumstance  is  viewed 
by  the  respectable  part  of  the  Inhabitants  of  this  City  and  the 
United  States  of  America  in  a  very  serious  point  of  view,  and 
that  the  lower  order  of  the  American  are  much  irritated  and 
inclined  for  violent  measures. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  you  some  of  the  American 
News  Papers  on  the  subject. 

TO   ME.   CANNING. 

New  York  5th  of  August  1807. 
SIR 

You  will  naturally  at  the  present  moment  be  anxious  to  have 
any  information  from  these  States ;  and  although  it  is  not  im- 

1  George  Canning  became  Secre-  of  Portland  were  at  the  head  of  the 

tary  for  Foreign   Affairs   April  8,  administration. 

1807,  on  the  dismissal  of  the  Whig        2  The  Leopard  fired  on  the  Chesa- 

Cabinet.  Mr.  Perceval  and  the  Duke  peake  June  22,  1807. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  265 

mediately  within  the  line  of  my  duty  to  communicate  with  you 
on  the  present  occasion  perhaps  it  may  not  be  disagreeable. 
The  midshipman  and  seamen  made  prisoners  on  landing  from 
one  of  His  Majesty s  Ships  in  Hampton  Roads  have  by  order  of 
the  President  been  returned  —  Preparations  are  making  for  the 
fortifying  of  this  and  the  other  principal  Ports  in  these  States. 
About  fifty  Gun  Boats  laying  in  ordinary  in  this  place  have 
been  got  ready  for  service  —  and  100000  militia  are  drafted  for 
service  on  short  notice.  Congress  are  called  for  the  26  of  Oc 
tober  about  six  weeks  earlier  than  usual. 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  rencounter  between  His  Majesty's 
Ship  Leopard  and  the  American  Frigate  Chesapeak,  will  by 
the  American  Government  be  made  the  instrument  of  pressing 
on  His  Majesty's  Ministers  that  the  American  Flag  shall  pro 
tect  all  Seamen  and  passengers,  other  than  Subjects  of  Pow 
ers  at  War  with  Great  Britain.  What  confirms  this  opinion 
is  a  late  publication  at  Boston  of  an  official  Letter  on  this  sub 
ject  in  1804  from  Mr.  Madison  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Mr. 
Monroe  Minister  at  London.  It  must  have  been  published  at 
Mr.  Madison's  instance,  and  at  Boston  that  it  might  appear  to 
come  from  a  different  Source  and  to  operate  on  the  minds  of 
persons,  who  think  very  widely  perhaps  from  Mr  Madison. — 

The  Eastern  States  are  averse  to  a  War  with  Great  Britain. 
In  this  State  a  great  proportion  of  the  respectable  characters 
are  of  similar  sentiments,  but  as  you  progress  to  the  South 
ward  they  are  more  warm,  and  in  Maryland,  Virginia  and  the 
Carolinas  I  suspect  War  would  be  a  popular  measure.  It  has 
been  with  great  reluctance,  that  within  these  few  weeks,  I  have 
been  obliged  to  believe  the  present  administration  in  these 
States  are  not  averse  to  war.  What  the  inducement  can  be  it 
is  impossible  to  say.  They  are  without  Ships,  or  Land  Forces  j 
and  the  Revenue  drawn  wholly  from  import  duties  dependant 
on  Commerce. — 

By  an  act  of  Congress  a  part  of  the  funded  Debt  is  ordered 
to  be  purchased  in  half  yearly  by  the  Cashier  of  the  United 
States  Bank.  About  a  fortnight  since  an  order  was  issued 
from  the  Government  that  he  should  purchase  no  stock  stand 
ing  in  the  name  of  a  Foreigner,  or  which  had  been  transfered 


266       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

by  a  foreigner  to  an  American  citizen  subsequent  to  the  first 
of  July. —  This  measure  is  pointed  to  British  Subjects,  and 
evinces  an  inclination  to  sequester  or  confiscate  their  property 
should  a  war  take  place. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   BERKELEY. 

New  York  11th  August  1807. 

SIR. 

I  yesterday  received  your  letter  of  the  fourth  of  July,  in 
forming  me  that  the  transaction  off  the  Capes  of  Virginia  be 
tween  His  Majestys  Ship  Leopard  and  the  United  States  Fri 
gate  Chesapeak  had  been  much  misrepresented  in  some  of  the 
American  newspapers,  which  you  was  apprehensive  might  oc 
casion  animosity  between  the  two  Nations,  that  you  thought  it 
proper  to  inclose  me  a  copy  of  the  orders  under  which  the  Cap 
tain  of  the  Leopard  acted,  which  you  had  not  issued  until  an 
application  to  restore  the  mutineers  and  Deserters  from  the 
British  Ships  had  been  made  by  His  Majestys  Minister  Con 
suls  and  officers  and  had  been  rejected  by  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  I  was  at  Liberty  to  promote  the 
knowledge  of  their  contents  in  whatever  way  I  might  think 
best  calculated  to  preserve  the  good  understanding  which 
ought  to  subsist  between  Great  Britain  and  America. 

Your  orders  to  the  Commanders  of  His  Majestys  Ships  of 
War  under  your  command  have  been  some  days  since  pub 
lished  in  most  of  the  American  News  Papers,  and  the  fact  that 
a  regular  and  formal  demand  for  the  delivery  of  the  Mutineers 
and  Deserters  had  been  made  by  the  officers  of  His  Majestys 
Ships  in  Hampton  Roads  and  M1  Consul  Hamilton  on  the 
American  officer  who  entered  them  as  Seamen  to  serve  on 
board  the  Chesapeak,  and  by  Mr  Erskine  His  Majestys  Minis 
ter  to  these  States,  on  the  American  Secretary  of  State  to  the 
same  effect  both  which  demands  had  respectively  been  re 
fused,  has  also  received  every  possible  publicity  through  the 
Medium  of  the  American  Newspapers. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  267 

I  shall  however  take  every  opportunity  to  state  the  transac 
tion  in  its  real  colours  and  as  you  wish  it. 


TO   VICE-ADMIRAL  BERKELEY. 

New  York  [August,  1807]. 
SIR. 

I  have  received  your  original  and  duplicate  letter  of  the  15tb 
of  July  and  the  hand  Bills  which  accompanied  them.  I  had 
them  posted  up  in  the  parts  of  this  City,  but  they  were  the 
next  day  either  mutilated  or  destroyed ;  since  which  I  have 
had  your  Proclamation  offering  a  Pardon  to  Deserters  pub 
lished  in  the  Newspapers,  but  as  the  Period  for  their  surrender 
(to  wit  the  31st  of  August)  was  so  nearly  expired  I  omitted 
putting  that  or  any  other  day  of  limitation  in  it,  because  in 
your  Proclamation  you  hold  out  a  Pardon  to  those  Seamen 
only  who  shall  immediately  return  to  their  duty.  Every 
means  in  my  power  shall  be  used  to  make  your  proclamation 
generally  known,  and  to  invite  British  Seamen  to  avail  them 
selves  of  it.  I  am  fearful  however  that  but  few  will  surrender 
themselves;  because  they  get  such  enormous  wages  in  the 
American  Merchant  Service.  —  Eendevous  have  been  opened 
for  entering  Seamen  for  the  American  Navy.  I  understand 
very  few  here  have  entered,  and  those  chiefly  were  of  colour 
or  Irish  Lands  men. — 

I  have  obtained  from  Captain  Crafts  a  copy  of  his  letter  to 
Mr  Gallatin  Secretary  of  the  American  Treasury  respecting 
two  men  Deserters  from  the  Melampus  who  were  taken  out  of 
the  Chesapeak  by  the  Leopard,  and  who  Commodore  Barron 
of  the  Chesapeak  had  reported  as  our  Newspapers  state  to  be 
American  Seamen  impressed  from  the  American  Brig  Neptune 
Crafts  Master.  I  inclose  a  copy  of  this  letter  which  I  have  had 
published  in  the  newspapers  yon  will  perceive  that  the  men 
deserted  the  Neptune  and  were  not  impressed  and  that  Cap 
tain  Crafts  was  pleased  with  the  Treatment  he  received  from 
Captain  Poyntz  —  If  any  British  Seamen  offer  to  enter  His 
Majesty s  Service,  I  will  take  care  to  forward  them  to  you. 


268  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

You  will  pardon  me  for  advising  you  that  if  you  send  a  Ship 
of  War  off  this  Harbour,  it  would  at  the  present  critical  mo 
ment  be  prudent  to  direct  that  she  should  as  little  as  possible 
interrupt  Ships  coming  in  or  going  out.  The  late  violence  is 
subsiding,  the  Eastern  People  are  very  moderate  and  opposed 
to  a  War  with  Great  Britain.  When  Congress  meet,  they  will 
strain  every  nerve  to  prevent  it.  I  think  it  advisable  there 
fore  not  to  furnish  their  opponents  with  fresh  arguments. 


TO   MK.    CANNING. 

New  York  2"  Septr  1807. 
SIR. 

Mr  Gallatin  the  American  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  having 
been  lately  in  this  City  called  on  a  Captain  Crafts  late  Master 
of  the  American  Brig  Neptune  for  information  respecting 
some  Seamen  who  it  was  stated  Commodore  Barron  had  re 
ported  to  have  been  impressed  from  the  Neptune  in  the  Bay 
of  Biscay  in  the  year  1805  by  His  Majesty s  Ship  Melampus, 
two  of  which  men  Ware  and  Martin  were  taken  from  the 
American  Frigate  Chesapeak  in  June  last  as  Deserters  from 
His  Majesty  s  Service,  by  Cap*  Humphreys  of  the  Leopard. — 
As  it  is  probable  the  American  remonstrance  by  Mr  Monro  the 
Minister  in  London,  may  represent  these  men  as  impressed 
into  His  Majestys  Service,  I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  Captain 
Crafts  letters  to  Mr  Gallatin  and  to  me  on  this  Subject,  which 
state  the  reverse  to  have  been  the  case.  It  is  probable  M1 
Monro  is  not  furnished  with  this  information  as  Captain 
Crafts  told  me,  when  he  delivered  the  letter  to  Mr  Gallatin  and 
he  had  read  it,  Mr  Gallatin  desired  him  to  keep  the  facts  to 
himself,  or  not  to  make  them  publick.  Crafts  is  now  gone  up 
the  Mediterranean,  but  told  me  he  was  ready  at  any  time  to 
verify  under  oath  the  letter  and  what  Mr.  Gallatin  said  to  him. 


269 

TO   SIR   EGBERT   LAURIE.1 

New  York  5  Septr  1807. 
SIR. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  25th  of  August  by  Captain 
Bradshaw  of  His  Majesty s  Sloop  Columbine,  informing  me 
that  the  Honorable  Vice  Admiral  Berkeley  Commander  in 
Chief  upon  this  Station,  having  understood  that  many  British 
Seamen  had  expressed  their  wishes  to  join  the  Standard  of 
their  Sovereign  and  that  several  men  had  applied  to  me  for 
that  purpose,  he  had  directed  you  to  send  His  Majestys  Sloop 
of  War  Columbine  to  anchor  at  Sandy  Hook  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  any  men  that  may  offer ;  that  Captain  Bradshaw 
was  to  acquaint  me  of  his  arrival  and  to  remain  on  that  ser 
vice,  as  long  as  he  shall  think  it  necessary  after  consulting  with 
me. —  That  as  the  Columbine  was  in  want  of  water  and  pro 
visions  you  had  desired  her  Commander  to  demand  through 
me  such  supplies  as  he  may  stand  in  need  of,  and  as  the  Pres 
idents  Proclamation  does  not  seclude  Ships  of  War  carrying- 
dispatches,  from  every  privilege  of  neutrality,  you  had  no  doubt 
I  would  forward  them  without  delay. 

I  did  not  receive  Captain  Bradshaws  letter  of  the  2d  Instant 
until  late  last  Evening  owing  to  the  Pilots  refusing  to  bring  it 
up ;  my  son  Mr  Henry  Barclay  therefore  went  down  for  it. — 
Admiral  Berkeley  I  suspect  has  been  misinformed  respecting 
British  Seamen  and  Land  men  in  this  Port  wishing  to  return 
to  the  Service  of  their  King  as  a  few  instances  have  occurred 
in  which  the  applicants  have  been  sent  on  to  Halifax  or  Eng 
land,  as  they  wished,  in  the  Pacquets.  I  really  cannot  think 
it  an  object  for  the  Columbine  to  remain  at  Sandy  Hook  for 
the  purpose  she  has  been  sent  for,  and  I  shall  so  express  my 
self  to  Captain  Bradshaw.  There  is  generally  a  Packet  in  this 
Port,  which  can  always  receive  ten  times  the  number  of  men 
who  will  offer. 

l  Sir  Robert  Laurie  was  captain  of  ship  Ville  de  Milan,  captured  in  the 

H.  M.  S.  Milan,  and  senior  officer  of  West   Indies.     An   account   of  her 

the  British  ships  in  the  Chesapeake,  capture  is  given  in  Basil  HalFs  Frag- 

The  Milan  was  formerly  the  French  ments  of  Voyages,  etc. 


270  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Monday  7th  Septr 

I  had  proceeded  thus  far  in  my  letter  to  you  on  Saturday 
and  was  going  to  add  that  the  Collector  of  this  Port  had  in  a 
very  handsome  manner  consented  to  my  sending  down  to  the 
Columbine  the  provisions  of  which  Cap*  Bradshaw  represented 
he  was  in  need,  when  I  received  a  note  from  the  Collector  in 
forming  me  that  he  was  under  the  painful  necessity  of  retract 
ing  his  permission  and  that  he  was  compelled  to  require  Cap 
tain  Bradshaw  immediately  to  depart  from  Sandy  Hook. 

It  appears  that  a  Revenue  Cutter  lay  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  Columbine,  that  a  man  deserted  from  the  latter  who 
Captain  Bradshaw  supposed  had  gone  on  board  this  Cutter, 
that  a  Boat  with  an  officer  from  the  Columbine  was  sent  to  the 
Cutter  to  enquire  about  this  man.  That  the  officer  was  told 
he  was  not  on  board,  but  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  this 
assurance,  but  declared  he  would  search  the  Cutter.  That  the 
Revenue  officer  who  commanded  the  Cutter  remonstrated 
against  the  measure  and  forbid  it,  notwithstanding  which  the 
search  was  made,  but  the  Deserter  was  not  found.  This  is  the 
substance  of  the  Report  of  the  Revenue  officer  to  the  Col 
lector,  who  considers  it  an  act  of  violence  committed  on  an 
American  national  vessel  within  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  which  justifies  and  renders  it  his  duty  to  order  the  im 
mediate  departure  of  the  Columbine.  I  hope  this  report  of 
the  Revenue  officer  may  be  exaggerated —  I  have  not  yet 
heard  whether  Capt  Bradshaw  has  gone  to  Sea  —  On  Satur 
day  I  made  him  acquainted  with  the  above  report,  and  I  hope 
this  day  to  hear  from  him.1 


TO    GENERAL   SIR  JAMES   CRAIG,    GOVERNOR-GENERAL    OF 

CANADA. 

New  York,  22''  Novr  1807 

SIR. 

I  some  time  since  informed  Mr  Dunn  then  administering  the 
Government  of  Lower  Canada,  that  a  Mr  Cazeaux  late  French 

1  An  account  of  this  affair,  taken  from  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  will  be 
found  in  McMaster's  History  of  theU.  S.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  267,  268. 


1807-1812  271 

Consul  at  Portsmouth  New  Hampshire  had  arrived  from 
France  charged  by  the  French  Government  to  visit  Canada 
for  the  purpose  of  alienating  the  affections  of  the  Canadians 
from  His  Majesty  and  the  Government  and  other  traitorous 
purposes  —  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  the  letter  to  Mr  Dunn 
for  the  particulars  — 

I  have  lately  heard  that  Cazeaux  will  not  return  to  France 
this  Winter  but  remain  in  Canada  in  disguise  —  His  abilities 
are  equal  to  his  cunning,  and  as  he  speaks  English  remarkably 
well  it  will  be  difficult  to  discover  him.  He  will  probably  as 
sume  the  dress  of  a  Peasant.  It  is  of  the  utmost  consequence 
he  should  be  apprehended.  The  plan  must  be  well  laid  to  dis 
cover  him,  as  the  Canadians  will  naturally  incline  to  conceal 
him  — 

TO  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  BARBADOES. 

New  York  28th  Decr  1807 
SIR 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  you  a  News  Paper  of  this  day, 
containing  an  Act  of  Congress  passed  the  22d  Current  laying 
an  Embargo  on  all  Vessels  within  the  Ports  of  the  United 
States,  with  a  provisional  clause  in  favor  of  Foreign  merchant 
vessels,  and  another  in  favor  of  Foreign  Ships  of  War. 

I  am  requested  by  Mr  Erskine  His  Majestys  Minister  Pleni 
potentiary  to  these  States,  to  inform  you  that  the  American 
Government  have  declared  that  the  Embargo  is  not  intended 
as  a  measure  of  Hostility  against  Great  Britain,  but  only  of 
Precaution  against  the  Risk  of  Capture  by  the  Belligerents 
Powers  in  the  present  extraordinary  State  of  things.1 

TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   BERKELEY. 

New  York  26th  December  1807. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  the  act  of  Congress 
passed  a  few  days  since  laying  an  Embargo,  and  to  inform 

1  Similar  letters  were  sent  to  the  Governors  of  Jamaica,  the  Bahamas, 
Bermuda,  and  Nova  Scotia. 


272        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

you  that  the  act  of  congress  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  merchandize  usually  imported  from  His 
Majestys  United  Kingdom,  went  into  operation  on  the  14th  In 
stant  —  It  is  certain  that  these  measures  have  been  adopted  in 
consequence  of  the  present  unpleasant  position  of  affairs  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  America ;  but  I  suspect  the  Embargo 
has  taken  place  rather  from  the  present  relative  situation  of 
France  and  America.  By  the  National  Schooner  Revenge 
dispatches  were  received  from  the  American  Minister  at  Paris, 
the  precise  purport  of  which  has  not  yet  transpired,  but  it  is 
stated  that  Bonaparte  has  declared  there  shall  be  no  neutrals, 
and  that  these  States  must  take  part  with  G.  Britain  or  France 
—  Congress  have  sat  since  the  19th  Instant,  the  day  the  Presi 
dent  sent  them  a  communication  on  the  subject  of  the  resolution 
of  Bonaparte,  with  closed  doors.  The  Embargo  was  the  result 
of  their  deliberation,  during  which  letters  from  Washington 
state,  the  disputes  with  G  Britain  was  never  mentioned  — 
The  presumption  is  therefore  that  the  Embargo  was  ordered 
to  prevent  Amn  Ships  going  to  France  —  A  letter  however 
from  a  sensible,  respectable  member  in  Congress,  opposed  to 
French  measures,1  dated  the  19th  of  December,  says  that  not 
withstanding  matters  can  be  amicably  adjusted  between  G 
Britain  and  America,  he  fears  through  french  influence  a  War 
between  them  will  take  place,  to  avoid  a  War  with  France  — 
M1  Rose  has  not  yet  arrived,  and  I  begin  to  fear  some  accident 
has  occurred  to  the  Statira.2 


TO   SIR  ROBERT   LAURIE. 

New  York  Decr  29th  1807. 
SIR. 

His  Majesty's  Schooner  Chubb  under  the  command  of  Lieut : 
Crooke  arrived  last  night  at  the  quarrantine  ground  about 
nine  miles  from  this  City,  and  Lieut  Crooke  came  up  in  the 

1  Barent  Gardenier  (?). 

2  George  Henry  Rose,  the  special  envoy  sent  over  to  treat  of  the  Chesapeake 
affair,  arrived  at  Norfolk  the  same  day  this  letter  was  written. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  273 

Pilot  boat  the  Collector  however  hearing  of  his  Landing  im 
mediately  ordered  the  Pilot  to  take  him  again  on  board  the 
Chubb,  as  his  landing  was  in  the  face  of  the  presidents  procla 
mation,  so  that  I  have  not  seen  Mr  Crooke. 

The  Collector  however  immediately  sent  me  your  and  Gov- 
vernor  Hodgsons  dispatches,  with  a  polite  message  that  a  boat 
was  always  ready  from  the  customs  for  me  to  communicate 
with  the  Commander  of  the  Chubb.  I  shall  send  the  dis 
patches  on  board  the  Chubb  at  high  water  tomorrow  and  re 
quest  Lieut  Crooke  to  sail  the  first  wind,  at  present  the  wind 
is  at  S.  E.  and  every  appearance  of  a  gale. 


TO   ME.   EKSKINE. 

New  York  3d  Feb^  1808. 

SIR. 

By  yesterday's  mail  I  had  the  Honor  to  receive  your  letter 
of  the  28th  of  January  covering  a  Statement  respecting  circum 
stances  which  have  occurred  on  board  His  Majesty s  Ship  Sta- 
tira  near  Norfolk  and  which  has  been  much  misrepresented  in 
the  American  News  Papers. — This  statement  will  be  published 
in  the  Evening  Post  this  day,  and  in  the  New  York  Gazette 
tomorrow,  with  a  few  remarks.1 

i  The  Norfolk  Herald  of  January  The  answer  published  by  the  New- 

12th  stated  that  a  boat  had  gone  York  papers  stated  that  when  the 

alongside    the   Statira   with  provi-  boat  came  alongside  a  seaman  was 

sions ;  that  they  were  "  saluted  with  being  flogged  "for  having  falsely 

the  groans  of  prisoners  who  appeared  accused  his  officers";    that  he  did 

to  be  suffering  the  most  excruciating  claim  to  be  an  American,  but  had 

torture";    that  the  passengers    on  given  no  proof  of  it;    that  he  had 

the  boat  wished  to  proceed,  but  were  volunteered  at  Portsmouth  in  Eng- 

"  treated  in  the  most  brutal  manner";  land  and  received  the   bounty  as 

that  "the  groans  were  those  of  an  such;   that  during  the  punishment 

American  citizen  writhing  under  the  the  boat  was  requested  to  keep  off 

lashof  a  petty  tyrant,  and  their  crime  a  few  minutes;  that  a  "verbal  al- 

having  declared  they  were  American  tercation"   ensued;    but    that    the 

citizens  and  having  sent  letters  on  boat's  crew  carried  their  point,  al- 

shore  by  the  pilot."    The  Baltimore  though  they  "  wished  some  inconve- 

Whig    republished  this  under    the  nience  to  the  Frigate.") 
heading,  "  Peace  is  now  Disgrace." 

18 


274  CORRESPONDENCE   OP   THOMAS   BARCLAY 


TO    CAPT.    BROMLEY,  H.  M.  S.  STATIRA. 

New  York  15  Feby  1808. 
SIR: 

I  am  this  day  honored  with  your  letter  of  the  1st  Current  on 
the  Subject  of  British  Seamen  who  may  apply  to  me  for  pas 
sages  to  their  native  country  in  consequence  of  His  Majestys 
late  Proclamation  or  otherwise,  with  your  request  that  I  would 
forward  such  Seamen  to  His  Majestys  Ship  Statira  under  your 
command,  where  you  will  receive  them  for  His  Majestys  ser 
vice  for  a  passage  to  England  on  the  return  of  the  Statira  with 
the  British  Mission  — 

Since  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Congress  in  December  last 
laying  an  embargo  on  American  Vessels,  British  Seamen  to 
the  number  of  about  forty  have  applied  for  passages  to  Great 
Britain  or  other  parts  of  His  Majestys  dominions,  some  of 
whom  have  been  sent  in  Packets  to  Falmouth,  others  to  Hali 
fax  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  two  to  Rear  Admiral  Sir  Alxr  Coch- 
rane  at  Barbadoes.  I  have  also  made  it  known  at  all  the 
houses  where  British  Seamen  resort,  that  I  was  ready  to  fur 
nish  them  with  passages  to  His  Majestys  Dominions  on  their 
application ;  I  am  sorry  to  add  that  no  others  have  availed 
themselves  of  His  Majestys  Proclamation. 

If  any  British  Seamen  hereafter  apply,  and  a  conveyance  off  ers 
for  the  Chesapeak,  I  shall  assuredly  send  them  to  you  •  but  if 
there  should  be  no  such  conveyance,  and  a  vessel  ready  for  Hali 
fax,  I  shall  feel  it  iny  duty  to  send  them  thither. — Had  the  Sta 
tira  arrived  here  instead  of  the  Chesapeak,  I  have  no  doubt,  two 
or  three  hundred  able  British  Seamen  would  have  entered  on 
board  her  for  His  Majestys  Service,  and  even  at  this  late  day, 
was  your  station  removed  to  this  City,  I  feel  confident,  provided 
the  embargo  continues,  you  would  more  than  complete  your 
complement. 


1807-1812  275 

TO   GENERAL   SIR   JAMES   CRAIG. 

New  York  4th  April  1808. 
SIR. 

I  have  received  your  letters  of  the  6th  and  12th  of  March  the 
former  per  Post,  the  latter  by  John  Wyatt  on  his  return  to 
this  City.  I  have  also  received  from  Mr  McKenzie  of  the 
Northwest  Company  one  hundred  dollars  advanced  to  defray 
Porteous'  expenses  in  going  to  you;  and  a  draft  from  Mr 
Richardson  on  Messrs  McVicker  and  Co  j  which  was  paid,  for  the 
hundred  dollars  given  to  Wyatt  on  account  of  his  expenses 
in  going  with  dispatches  for  you. —  I  am  happy  to  learn  you 
are  possessed  of  sufficient  information  to  counteract  the  Designs 
of  those  Persons  respecting  whom  I  have  given  you  notice. 

Mr  Rose  His  Majestys  Special  Envoy  to  these  States,  sailed 
in  the  Statira  Frigate  on  the  27th  ulto.  from  Hampton  Roads 
for  England  his  mission  to  these  States  having  failed  of  its 
friendly  object.  Within  the  last  Fortnight  however  a  great 
change  it  is  said  has  taken  place  in  the  disposition  of  Congress 
and  the  American  Government,  and  that  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  we  shall  continue  on  Terms  of  Amity.  In  proof 
of  this,  the  President  has  stated  in  conversation  that  the 
dispatches  lately  received  from  Mr  Pinckney  the  American 
Minister  in  London  were  expressive  of  the  most  conciliatory 
disposition  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty;  and  the  Presidents 
laying  before  Congress  the  official  documents  received  from 
France,  so  long  with  held  and  wrapped  in  secrecy.  —  The 
present  state  of  suspense  cannot  long  continue ;  nor  will  the 
Americans  remain  much  longer  silent  under  the  inconvenience 
and  ruinous  consequences  of  the  Embargo. 


TO    MR.    ERSKINE. 

New  York  9th  April  1808. 
SIR: 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  my  letter  to 
Commodore  Rodgers  Commanding  the  American  Ships  of 
War  in  this  Port,  requesting  him  to  discharge  from  the 


276        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

American  Ship  of  War  Wasp  a  subject  of  His  Majestys 
named  James  Grady.  Also  Commodore  Rodgers  answer  to 
me,  wherein  he  recommends  my  applying  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  American  Navy  on  the  subject  j  and  impliedly  contradicts 
my  assertion  that  Grady  is  a  Subject  of  His  Majesty. 

Grady  avers  that  he  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  was  a  Gard 
ner  several  years  with  Lady  Connolly,  daughter  of  the  late 
Duke  of  Richmond.  In  addition  to  which  the  Irish  dialect  is 
so  broad  on  his  Tongue,  that  every  person  who  hears  him 
speak,  would  at  once  pronounce  him  an  Irishman.  —  I  am 
therefore  positive  that  I  was  correct  in  saying  he  was  a  sub 
ject  of  His  Majesty ;  nor  can  I  imagine  Commodore  Rodgers 
can  have  any  Ground  for  denying  it,  unless  he  sets  up  the 
plea  of  Grady  being  a  Citizen  of  these  States  or  having  taken 
the  Oath  of  allegiance.  Grady  assures  me  he  has  not  been 
made  a  citizen  or  taken  the  Oath  of  allegiance.  He  is  anxious 
for  his  discharge  and  desirous  to  enter  into  His  Majestys  Ser 
vice.  I  hope  you  will  feel  yourself  at  Liberty  to  make  an  ap 
plication  for  him. —  It  is  time  to  ascertain  whether  the  Am" 
Government  intend  retaining  in  their  Service  British  Subjects. 


TO   GENEEAL   HISLOP,    GOVEENOE   OF   TKINIDAD. 

New  York  5th  May  1808. 
SIR. 

I  am  this  moment  honored  with  your  Excelys  letter  of  the 
29th  of  March  covering  your  Proclamation  respecting  the  loss 
of  a  great  number  of  Houses  and  other  Buildings  at  the  Port 
of  Spain,  the  distress  of  the  Inhabitants,  and  inviting  all 
friendly  neutrals  to  export  to  that  place  Provisions  and  Lum 
ber  and  that  they  shall  be  permitted  to  carry  away  in  return 
Sugar,  Rum,  Molasses,  Cocoa  and  Coffee. — 

I  most  sincerely  participate  with  you  and  the  Sufferers  in 
the  losses  they  have  sustained  and  the  inconveniences  they 
must  experience ;  and  it  adds  much  to  my  mortification  that 
I  cannot  officially  make  public  your  proclamation,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  continuance  of  the  Embargo  Law  —  I  will  how 
ever  if  possible  get  it  a  place  in  some  of  the  News  Papers  ed- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  277 

ited  in  this  City. —  Mr  Erskine  His  Majestys  Minister  at  Wash 
ington  I  fear  will  not  succeed  in  obtaining  any  indulgence 
from  the  Amn  Government,  for  two  reasons,  first  because  I 
suspect  they  are  not  inclined  to  grant  them  to  His  Majestys 
Subjects,  and  secondly  if  they  do,  they  cannot  refuse  similar 
applications  from  the  French  and  Spanish  Governments.  At 
this  moment  there  are  two  officers  at  Washington  deputed  by 
the  Governor  of  the  City  of  S*  Domingo  requesting  permission 
to  export  flour  from  these  States  to  that  place  to  prevent  the 
Inhabitants  from  perishing. —  There  is  at  present  not  the  least 
probability  of  the  Embargo  being  taken  off. 


TO   REAR-ADMIRAL   COCHRANE. 

New  York  2d  May  1808 
Sm. 

A  french  built  Ship  formerly  sailing  out  of  this  Port  under 
an  American  Sea  letter  under  the  name  of  the  Eliza,  has  dur 
ing  this  Winter  been  cut  down  in  France  and  everyway  fitted 
for  a  Privateer,  she  arrived  here  some  weeks  since  with  a  Cargo 
of  Brandy  and  has  cleared  out  for  the  Isle  of  France  under  the 
name  of  the  Constant,  Vauvage  Master.  This  is  not  the  fact. 
Vauvage  is  the  owner  of  this  Ship  and  on  board  of  her  :  but  an 
American  of  the  name  of  Waterman  is  the  real  Captain.  She 
is  not  bound  for  the  Isle  of  France  but  the  West  Indies,  or 
that  part  of  the  Continent  which  comprehends  Surinam,  Dem- 
arara  and  Berbice.  She  has  three  or  four  Guns  mounted,  but 
the  remainder  to  equip  her  to  18  Guns  are  in  her  hold,  the 
weight  or  length  of  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 
She  sails  uncommonly  fast,  and  will  probably  make  many 
Captures  unless  taken. —  Waterman  and  such  others  of  her 
Crew  as  are  Americans  will  merit  particular  care  and  treat 
ment  being  found  on  board  an  Enemy's  Ship  of  War. —  She 
may  assume  the  name  of  the  Eliza,  Waterman  Master  and 
show  an  American  Sea  letter ;  or  that  of  the  Constant,  Vau 
vage  Master  with  some  other  Custom  House  document  —  It 
will  be  proper  for  you  to  forward  this  to  the  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  Jamaica  Station. 

18* 


278  CORRESPONDENCE   OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   ADMIRAL   SIR  JOHN   BORLASE   WARREN.1 

New  York  19th  July  1808 
SIR. 

The  day  before  yesterday  it  was  announced  in  the  News 
Papers  of  this  City  and  mentioned  in  private  letters  that  a 
French  National  Brig  of  20  Guns  had  arrived  in  the  Chese- 
peak  from  Brest  with  dispatches  from  the  French  Govern 
ment.  By  letters  received  from  Baltimore  &  Alexandria  by 
this  days  mail  it  appears  that  a  French  National  Brig  of  20 
Guns  and  150  men  had  arrived  in  the  Chesepeak  (not  from 
Brest  but)  from  Guadeloupe.  It  is  generally  supposed  her  ob 
ject  is  to  obtain  provisions. — 

I  am  aware  that  under  present  circumstances  it  is  not  His 
Majestys  Wish  that  the  Squadron  under  your  command  should 
give  even  a  shadow  of  offence  to  this  Government ;  still  with 
submission  to  your  better  Judgment,  I  should  suppose  some 
of  the  Frigates  and  Sloops  under  your  command  might  be  off 
and  on  these  Ports,  and  occasionally  capture  Enemies  Ships. 
The  French  are  apprised  that  British  Ships  of  War  seldom 
cruise  off  the  Amn  Ports  and  avail  themselves  of  their  ab 
sence. —  I  have  advised  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane  of  the  Brig 
being  here  and  that  she  will  probably  return  in  a  month  or  six 
Weeks  to  Guadeloupe  or  Martinico.  Should  a  conveyance  of 
fer  for  Barbadoes  or  contiguous  from  Halifax  permit  me  to 
recommend  your  repeating  the  information. 


TO    MR.    ERSKINE. 

New  York  1st  August  1808 
SIR, 

I  am  at  this  moment  honored  with  your  letter  of  the  29th  of 
July  requesting  me  as  His  Majestys  Comr  under  the  5th  Arti 
cle  of  the  Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  between 

1  Nephew   of    Sir  Peter  Warren,     matist,  having  been  British  Ambas- 
Born  in  1754,  died  1822.     Sir  John     sador  to  Russia  in  1802. 
was  not  only  a  sailor,  but  a  diplo- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  279 

His  M :  &  the  United  States  of  America  to  inform  you  whether 
Moose  Island  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay  is  within  His  Majesty s 
Limits  or  those  of  the  United  States. 

For  the  more  ready  comprehending  the  conduct  of  the 
Com"  with  respect  to  the  Islands  in  that  Bay  permit  me  to 
give  you  two  extracts,  the  first  from  the  second  Article  of  the 
definitive  Treaty  of  Peace  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United 
States,  the  other  from  the  fifth  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Amity 
Commerce  and  Navigation  above  mentioned. —  In  describing 
the  boundaries  which  are  to  divide  His  Majestys  (then)  Prov 
ince  of  Nova  Scotia  from  the  United  States,  the  definitive 
Treaty  declares  —  "  East  by  a  Line  to  be  drawn  along  the  mid 
dle  of  the  River  Sf  Croix  from  its  mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
to  its  source."  The  same  Article  grants  all  Islands  within 
twenty  Leagues  of  any  part  of  the  Shores  of  the  United  States 
and  lying  between  lines  to  be  drawn  due  East  from  the  Points 
where  the  aforesaid  Boundaries  between  Nova  Scotia  on  the 
one  part,  and  East  Florida  on  the  other  shall  respectively 
touch  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  "  excepting 
such  Islands  as  now  are,  or  heretofore  have  been  within  the 
Limits  of  the  said  Province  of  Nova  Scotia."  The  treaty  of 
Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  directs  that  the  three  Com 
missioners  appointed  under  the  5th  Article  of  that  Treaty, 
"  shall  by  a  declaration  under  their  hands  and  Seals  decide 
what  River  is  the  River  intended  by  the  "  (definitive) "  Treaty," 
and  "  that  the  said  declaration  shall  contain  a  description  of 
the  said  River,  and  shall  particularize  the  Latitude  and  Lon 
gitude  of  its  mouth  and  of  its  Source" 

You  will  perceive  from  these  extracts  that  the  Commission 
ers  under  the  definitive  Treaty  in  1783  contemplated  and 
described  the  mouth  of  the  River  S*  Croix  to  be  in  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  —  and  that  the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  makes  mention 
only  of  its  mouth,  without  reference  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  in 
deed  the  Bay  of  Fundy  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Article. —  It 
was  the  wish  of  the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  of  the 
Treaty  of  Amity  Commerce  and  Navigation  to  have  if  possi 
ble  carried  the  mouth  of  the  River  S*  Croix  into  the  Bay  of 
Fundy ;  but  on  a  fair  examination  of  the  River  S*  Croix  we 


280        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

were  of  opinion  that  the  mouth  of  the  River  S*  Croix  was  at  a 
place  called  Joe's  Point  nearly  opposite  to  the  Town  of  S*  An 
drews  in  the  Westernmost  Part  of  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy, 
and  left  the  Boundary  from  thence  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  be 
arranged  by  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America  at 
some  future  Period.  The  Commissioners  however  agreed  that 
they  would  recommend  to  their  respective  Governments  that 
the  Centre  of  the  Main  Channel  which  leads  from  Joe's  Point 
into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  should  be  the  dividing  Line.  This  Line 
has  never  been  confirmed,  if  it  had  Moose  Island  would  have 
been  on  the  American  Side  of  it,  but  this  would  not  have  af 
fected  His  Majesty s  Right  to  that  Island,  because  by  the  excep 
tion  in  the  second  Article  of  the  definitive  Treaty  such  Islands 
as  then  were  or  theretofore  had  been  within  the  limits  of  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia  were  not  to  appertain  to  the  United 
States. —  Mr  Chipman  His  Majestys  Agent  was  prepared  to 
show  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty  that  Moose  Island  then  was 
and  had  been  within  the  Limits  of  the  Province  of  Nova  Sco 
tia;  but  the  Commissioners  refused  to  hear  him,  having  no 
power  or  direction  to  decide  with  respect  to  those  Islands. — 
Mr  Chipman  is  His  Majestys  Solicitor  General  at  S*  John  in 
the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  will  readily  furnish  the 
Admiral  and  General  with  copies  of  the  documents  he  had  pre 
pared  to  lay  before  the  Comrs  had  they  conceived  themselves 
authorized  to  receive  them  — 

As  it  may  at  a  future  day  be  urged  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  of  America  that  His  Majesty  in  the  year  1802  or  1803 
had  agreed  to  yield  Moose  Island  to  these  States,  permit  me  to 
add,  what  I  by  no  means  hold  to  be  material,  but  to  avoid  a 
charge  of  suppression.  That  when  I  was  in  London  in  1802 
and  1803,  Lord  Hawkesbury  then  Secretary  of  State  for  for 
eign  affairs  informed  me  that  Mr  King  the  American  Minister 
in  London,  had  in  conversing  on  the  Subject  of  the  Islands  in 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  on  the  establishing  a  boundary  Line 
from  the  mouth  of  the  River  S*  Croix  (Joes  Point)  to  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  mentioned  that  several  of  those  Islands  appertained 
to  the  United  States  of  America. —  In  reply  I  told  his  Lordship 
I  considered  the  reverse  the  fact  and  that  every  Island  in  Pas- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  281 

samaquoddy  Bay  had  appertained  to  the  Province  of  Nova 
Scotia  5  I  however  added  that  if  a  full  and  compleat  settle 
ment  of  Boundaries  took  place  between  His  Majesty  and  the 
United  States  of  America,  which  was  then  under  his  Lord 
ships  and  Mr  Kings  consideration,  that  it  was  my  opinion 
Moose  Island  should  be  granted  ex  gratis  by  His  Majesty  to 
the  United  States  of  America,  as  they  had  possessed  it  since 
1783  and  used  it  as  a  Port  of  Entry. —  His  Lordship  directed 
me  to  confer  with  Mr  King  on  the  Subject.  Mr  King  and  my 
self  met  twice  or  three  times,  and  he  finally  agreed  to  accept 
Moose  Island  in  full  of  all  claims  for  Islands  in  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquoddy,  as  an  eventual  arrangement  of  the  Boun 
dary  Lines l —  Soon  after  this  I  understood  Mr  King  received 
instructions  from  his  Government  not  to  proceed  any  further 
in  the  proposed  Commission  for  running  the  remainder  of  the 
unascertained  Lines  between  His  Majesty  and  these  States. — 


TO   ADMIRAL   SIB  JOHN   BOBLASE   WABBEN. 

New  York  3d  Sept/  1808. 
SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  three 
several  letters  to  me  of  the  28th  of  July. —  I  regret  that  the  five 
Seamen  I  sent  to  the  officer  Commanding  His  Majestys  Ships 
of  War  at  Passamaquoddy,  have  not  been  delivered.  At  the 
time  I  put  them  on  board  there  was  no  conveyance  for  Hali 
fax.  The  masters  of  Merchant  Vessels  cannot  be  confided  in : 
and  the  Captains  of  Packets,  in  consequence  of  the  number  of 
Passengers  they  carry  to  Falmouth,  since  the  Embargo,  are 
averse  to  be  troubled  with  Seamen,  intended  for  the  Navy.— 
Captain  Davis  of  the  Manchester  on  his  arrival  told  me  he 
would  take  fifty  Seamen  for  you,  if  I  had  them ;  prior  how 
ever  to  his  departure  he  complained  of  his  Ship  being  much 
crowded  and  eventually  received  very  few. —  The  next  (the 
October  Packet)  will  be  the  last  which  touches  at  Halifax 
from  hence  until  March  next,  after  her  there  will  be  no  con- 

1  See  ante,  page  144. 


282  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

veyance  for  Seamen.  Perhaps  it  would  not  be  amiss  for  you 
to  send  a  small  armed  vessel  occasionally  between  the  middle 
of  October  and  March  to  take  such  men  as  may  wish  to  return 
to  His  Majestys  Dominions.  The  ostensible  reason  for  the  ar 
rival  of  an  armed  Ship  from  you.  must  be  dispatches,  and  the 
Officer  Commanding  on  his  arrival  at  Sandy  Hook  or  Staten 
Island  is  directed  by  Law  to  report  his  arrival  and  the  cause 
(towit  that  he  is  charged  with  dispatches)  to  the  Collector  of 
the  Customs,  who  will  then  if  requested  grant  him  Pro 
visions,  &c. 


TO   ADMIEAL   SIR  JOHN   BOELASE   WARREN. 

New  York  3d  Septr  1808. 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR: 

The  incidents  which  have  occurred  in  Europe,  and  in  the 
Spanish  Colonies  in  North  and  South  America,  are  events  of 
such  general  importance  and  so  peculiarly  fortunate  for  Great 
Britain  that  I  cannot  refrain  offering  you  my  sincere  congrat 
ulations. —  I  cannot  say  I  am  very  sanguine  in  my  expectations 
of  the  consequences  of  the  revolutions  in  Spain  and  Portugal, 
unless  they  are  supported  by  what  we  have  had  hints  to  ex 
pect,  a  revolution  in  Italy,  and  a  cooperation  of  the  Northern 
Powers.  Should  these  take  place,  and  unanimity,  decision 
and  energy  actuate  the  allies,  the  Tyrant  must  fall. —  At  all 
events  if  the  Spaniards  and  Portugese  act  with  prudence  and 
promptness,  and  carry  on  merely  a  defensive  and  desultory 
war,  avoiding  at  least  for  two  years  any  thing  like  a  general 
action,  there  is  work  cut  out  to  occupy  Bonaparte  the  remain 
der  of  his  Life  —  Where  ever  the  French  main  Body  appears 
only  Women  children  and  old  men  should  be  found.  The 
elite  of  the  Spanish  and  Portugese  Troops,  of  which  the 
greater  part  ought  to  be  cavalry,  should  hang  on  the  rear  and 
flanks  of  the  Enemy,  oppose  them  in  front  at  every  strong 
pass,  harass  them  night  and  day  by  partial  and  occasionally 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  283 

more  extensive  attacks,  and  cut  up  all  their  foraging  parties 
and  escorts.  Such  a  mode  would  make  Soldiers  of  them,  while 
it  rendered  the  French  discontented  from  constant  duty  and 
scanty  supplies.  You  will  perhaps  smile  and  remark  that  it  is 
easier  to  prescribe  the  mode,  than  to  carry  it  into  effect.  I 
grant  it,  but  beg  leave  to  add  that  Troops  in  their  own  coun 
try,  having  every  man  their  Friend  have  incredible  advantages 
over  an  Enemy  who  is  ignorant  of  the  country,  and  of  local 
information. —  The  immediate  consequences  of  these  revolu 
tions  are  singular  fortunate  to  Great  Britain  during  the  oper 
ation  of  the  American  non  importation  and  embargo  Laws. 
The  Spanish  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies  and  on  the  Continent 
of  America  will  now  take  from  our  manufacturers  all  that 
their  Industry  can  supply ;  and  I  am  at  times  in  doubt  whether 
a  continuance  of  the  American  Embargo  will  not  operate  bene 
ficially  to  Britain.  —  Whether  the  occurrences  in  Europe  have 
had  any  effect  on  M1  Jefferson  and  his  Ministers  has  not  yet 
transpired.  I  have  no  hesitation  to  say,  but  for  these  events, 
they  would  have  gone  to  War  with  us,  and  united  themselves 
more  closely  with  France.  —  For  this  purpose  they  have  pur 
sued  every  measure  which  could  give  offence  to  His  Majesty 
and  His  Ministers  in  the  hopes  of  inducing  them  to  some  act 
which  would  be  generally  offensive  to  the  Americans  and  give 
colour  to  a  War.  —  A  large  proportion  of  the  Americans  per 
haps  a  major  part  are  averse  to  War  with  Britain.  If  there 
fore  Britain  could  have  been  so  goaded  as  to  commit  the  first 
aggression,  the  American  Government  believed  many  if  not 
most  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  a  War,  would  become  ad 
vocates  for  it. —  It  was  under  this  conviction  that  I  some  time 
since  took  the  Liberty  to  give  you  my  opinion,  with  respect  to 
Moose  Island  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  possessed  by  the  Ameri 
cans,  but  appertaining  to  His  Majesty ;  and  to  recommend  the 
avoiding  all  acts  of  violence  to  gain  the  possession,  indeed  not 
even  to  make  a  demand  at  present,  for  it.  —  My  reasons  were 
given  at  length  and  shall  not  now  be  repeated  —  Vermont 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  are  decidedly  favorable  to 
Britain  in  opposition  to  France.  In  this  State  and  in  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  they  are  nearly  divided,  and  in  consequence 


284  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS   BARCLAY 

of  the  Embargo  the  federal  party  are  daily  gaining  strength 
throughout  the  Union.  —  Petitions  or  rather  Memorials  are 
sending  from  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States  to  the  Presi 
dent  for  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo,  and  should  it  not  be  raised 
in  November  or  December,  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  vio 
lence  was  opposed  to  Law.  Orders  have  been  issued  by  the 
President  for  building  two  large  Armed  Brigs  and  some  gun 
boats  on  the  Lakes ;  and  large  depots  of  small  arms,  ordnance 
and  military  Stores  have  been  lately  established  as  I  am  in 
formed  in  those  parts  of  this  State  which  are  contiguous  to 
Canada. — These  are  strongly  indicative  measures. —  Daily  ex 
perience  adds  moreover  to  past  conviction  that  admitting  we 
are  to  be  at  War  with  America  it  is  of  immense  moment,  we 
should  avoid  giving  the  American  Government  a  pretext  for 
it ;  because  should  they  wantonly  unite  with  France  against 
His  Majesty,  we  will  have  three  of  the  most  powerful  States 
with  respect  to  men,  and  great  numbers  also  in  the  other 
States,  our  Friends  so  as  to  impede,  if  not  frustrate  all  offen 
sive  operations;  and  possibly  to  occasion  a  civil  war  among 
themselves.  The  jealousy  of  the  Eastern  &  Northern  States 
of  the  influence  in  Council  and  preponderance  in  Congress  of 
Virginia  is  great,  and  they  live  under  them  with  an  impa 
tience,  bordering  on  a  determination  to  shake  them  off. 

You  will  perceive  in  the  News  Papers,  that  the  French  offi 
cial  dispatches  to  the  Governors  of  the  Spanish  Colonies  in 
America  of  the  resignation  of  the  crown  of  Spain  in  favor  of 
Bonaparte,  were  forwarded  by  the  American  Consul  under 
cover  to  Mr  Madison  Secretary  of  State.  They  have  happily 
been  intercepted  j  but  Mr  Madison  owes  it  to  his  own  reputa 
tion,  and  to  these  States  as  a  power  at  present  in  Amity  with 
Britain  to  disavow  all  knowledge  of  the  act,  and  that  no  part 
of  his  conduct  had  or  could  have  given  the  American  Consul 
in  Spain  reason  to  believe  he  would  have  approved  of  receiv 
ing  such  dispatches  to  forward  —  The  day  I  hope  will  arrive 
when  His  Majesty  may  notice  this  act  of  perfidy  with  pru 
dence  and  demand  a  satisfactory  explanation  and  apology. 

The  period  I  trust  is  not  distant  when  we  shall  be  on  more 
friendly  terms  with  America,  in  which  case  you  may  with  pro- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  285 

priety  visit  this  place,  which  you  will  find  wonderfully  ex 
tended  and  improved,  most  of  the  lands  which  belonged  at 
Greenwich  to  the  Heirs  of  the  late  Sir  Peter  Warren  are  now 
included  in  this  City.  —  Your  Cousin  Lady  Southampton  is 
also  a  first  Cousin  to  Mrs  Barclays ;  who  was  a  Delancey,  niece 
to  and  named  after  the  late  Lady  Warren.1  —  I  think  Lady 
Warren,  &  yourself,  would  be  pleased  by  a  summer  excursion 
hither.  I  shall  only  add  we  should  be  most  happy  to  see  you. 


FROM  JUDGE   BENSON. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  reflected  on  what  passed  in  the  confidential  Conver 
sation  between  Us  a  few  days  since ;  and  am  perfectly  satisfied 
the  British  Government  can  never  justify  taking  Possession 
of  Moose  Island  on  the  ground  either  of  better  Title,  as  it  re 
gards  Boundary,  or  as  not  within  the  Boundary  of  any  of  the 
Grants  under  which  the  Territory  there  has  been  claimed  and 
so,  as  it  were,  vacant ;  for  in  the  latter  Case  the  American 
Government  would  be  in  titled  to  it  by  Right  of.  prior  Occupancy, 
the  Fact  I  presume  being,  that  from  the  Beginning,  and  cer 
tainly  since  the  Decision  by  the  Commissioners  in  1798,  actual 
Jurisdiction  has  been  exercised  over  the  Island  as  appertain 
ing  to  Massachusetts  — 

The  Treaty  of  1783,  and  the  subsequent  one  of  1794,  both 
assume  it,  that  the  River  St.  Croix  was  the  Boundary  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  as  such  the  eastern  Boundary  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  only  Question  which  discovered  itself  after  the  first 
Treaty  was  which  is  the  true  River  ?  This  Question  was  sub 
mitted  to  Commissioners  who  between  the  [Schoodic]  claimed 
on  part  of  the  King  of  G.  B.  and  [Magaguadavic]  claimed  on 
the  part  of  the  U.  S.  decided  in  favor  of  the  former.  The 
Treaties  also  suppose,  that  whichever  might  be  the  true  River, 
it  emptied  immediately  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  or  Sea  in  that 
Quarter,  whereas  both  the  Rivers  claimed  empty  into  the  Bay 

1  Lady  Southampton  was  a  daughter  of  Sir  Peter  Warren,  whose  wife  was 
Susan  De  Lancey,  daughter  of  the  first  Stephen  De  Lancey. 


286  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS  BARCLAY 

of  Passamaquoddy,  a  Bay,  if  it  may  be  so  expressed,  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy ;  and  it  being  only  submitted  to  the  Commis 
sioners  to  ascertain  the  true  River,  and  with  it  it's  Head  or 
Source  and  it's  Mouth  or  Confluence  with  other  waters,  and 
they  having  ascertained  the  latter  to  be  at  [Joe's  Point]  there 
would  seem  to  be  a  Defect  in  the  Boundary  of  Massachusetts 
as  to  the  Space  or  Distance  between  the  Mouth  of  the  River 
and  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  the  Parties  being  independent 
Sovereignties  and  therefore  not  amenable  to  any  common  Tri 
bunal  the  Doubt  or  Question  arising  from  it  was  necessarily 
left  as  the  Subject  of  further  Convention  —  I  speak  of  it  as  a 
seeming  Defect  only  being  perswaded  the  Law  would  construc 
tively  supply  it  by  declaring  the  Filum  Aquae  the  middle  of 
the  Channel  of  the  nearest  Passage  fit  for  the  ordinary  Navi 
gation  between  the  Mouth  of  the  River  and  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
to  be  the  Boundary  —  The  Necessity  of  this  Construction  will 
be  more  obviously  discerned  if  we  suppose  the  [Magaguadavic] 
to  have  been  decided  to  be  the  River,  the  Mouth  of  it  being  just 
within  the  northern  Headland  of  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy ; 
so  that  without  some  such  closing  Line  as  I  have  suggested 
this  most  incongruous  Consequence  would  follow,  that  the 
Nation,  having  the  main  Land  forming  the  shores  of  the  Bay 
of  Passamaquoddy  in  nearly  the  whole  of  its  Circumference, 
would  still  be  without  a  Right  to  any  of  the  Islands  in  it,  or 
even  to  the  Use  of  it's  Waters  — 

You  may  communicate  this  Letter  as  you  may  think  proper 
trusting  that  my  Motives  to  it  will  not  be  misconceived, 
Yours  sincerely 

BGBT  BENSON. 

Octr  26,  1808. 


TO    ME.    EKSKINE. 

New  York  28'"  October  1808. 

(Private.} 
SIR. 

The  late  confidential  communications  respecting  Moose  Is 
land,  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  transmit  to  me,  and  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,    1807-1812  287 

refusal  of  the  American  Government  to  deliver  that  Island  to 
His  Majesty,  have  led  me  to  reconsider  the  Subject  and  I  feel 
it  my  duty  to  inform  you  of  the  result. 

I  fear  I  have  heretofore  been  led  into  an  error  by  giving 
the  Treaty  of  1783  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States 
of  America  too  confined  a  construction. —  On  mature  delibera 
tion  I  am  inclined  to  believe  it  was  the  intention  of  His  Maj 
esty  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
1783  that  the  Eastern  Boundary  of  the  then  Province  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  should  be  the  Line  to  divide  His  Majestys  Colony 
of  Nova  Scotia  from  the  Territory  he  was  about  to  cede  to  the 
United  States  of  America ;  and  as  the  Eiver  S*  Croix  had 
originally  been  the  Eastern  Boundary  which  divided  Massa 
chusetts  from  Nova  Scotia  it  was  agreed  by  the  Treaty  that 
"  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  Eiver  S*  Croix  from  its 
mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  its  Source,  and  from  its 
Source  directly  North  to  the  aforesaid  Highlands  which 
divide  the  Rivers  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from 
those  which  fall  into  the  River  S*  Lawrence"  should  be  the 
Eastern  Boundary. — 

Then  follow  the  words  under  which  His  Majestys  present 
claim  to  Moose  Island  is  founded  to  wit  "comprehending  all 
Islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  the  Shores  of  the  United 
States,  and  lying  between  Lines  to  be  drawn  due  East  from 
the  Points  where  the  aforesaid  Boundaries  between  Nova 
Scotia  on  the  one  part  and  East  Florida  on  the  other  shall 
respectively  touch  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
excepting  such  Islands  as  now  are  or  heretofore  have  been 
within  the  Limits  of  the  said  Province  of  Nova  Scotia." 

It  appears  to  me  that  His  Majesty  cannot  justify  taking  pos 
session  of  Moose  Island. 

[Here  Colonel  Barclay  repeats  the  arguments  used  in  the  fore 
going  tetter  from  Judge  Benson.] 

It  is  also  evident  that  the  Treaty  of  1783  which  gave  to  the 
United  States  "  all  Islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  the  Shores  of 
the  United  States  except  those  which  then  were  or  theretofore 
had  been  within  the  Limits  of  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia," 
intended  only  Islands  laying  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  in  the 


288  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Ocean ;  because  it  expressly  defines  them  to  be,  "  lying  be 
tween  Lines  to  be  drawn  due  East  from  the  points  where  the 
aforesaid  Boundaries  between  Nova  Scotia  on  the  one  part 
and  East  Florida  on  the  other  shall  respectively  touch  the 
Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  —  Now  a  Line  drawn 
due  East,  from  the  middle  of  the  River  S*  Croix,  supposing  its 
mouth  to  be  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  would  run  in  an  opposite 
direction  from  a  Line,  which  is  to  include  Moose  Island. 

I  have  in  a  former  letter  to  you  observed  that  I  did  not 
think  Moose  Island  worth  five  hundred  Guineas  to  an  Individ 
ual.  I  consider  it  of  no  consequence  to  His  Majesty  for  For 
tifications.  Campo  Bello  an  adjacent  and  much  larger  Island 
is  better  adapted  either  for  defense  or  annoyance. — 


TO   MK.   EESKINE. 

New  York  23  December  1808 
SIR. 

Finch  the  Courier  who  left  this  on  the  12th  of  November 
with  your  dispatch  for  General  Sir  James  Craig  returned  last 
Evening  with  the  letter  I  have  now  the  Honor  to  inclose — Major 
Thornton  Military  Secretary  to  the  General  has  not  informed 
me  of  the  day  he  arrived ;  by  the  date  of  his  letter  to  me,  it 
must  have  been  on  or  before  the  28th  of  November,  so  that  the 
Courier  was  not  more  than  16  days  in  going,  which  was  very 
expeditious  particularly  as  Lake  Champlain  was  impassable  — 

The  small  letter  you  sent  me  on  the  11th  Instant  to  forward 
and  which  came  too  late  for  the  second  Courier,  was  put  under 
a  cover  and  despatched  on  the  20th  Instant  by  a  very  reputable 
character  who  will  be  punctual  in  the  Delivery  of  it  — 


TO   ME.  EKSKINE. 

New  York,  9th  March  1809 
SIR. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  of  the  instruc 
tions  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  to 


CONSUL-GENERAL,  1807-1812  289 

the  Collectors  of  the  different  Ports  for  their  rule  of  conduct 
under  the  Non  intercourse  Act.1  — 

These  instructions  appear  to  me  to  comport  neither  with  the 
letter  or  spirit  of  that  Act ;  and  pregnant  with  serious  incon 
venience  and  probable  loss  to  His  Majestys  Subjects.  Should 
they  appear  in  the  same  light  to  you,  I  take  it  for  granted  you 
will  endeavor  to  obtain  a  reasonable  alteration.  I  take  the 
liberty  to  inclose  my  private  remarks  on  the  instructions. 

Permit  me  to  notice  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  obtain  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  an  additional  instruction  to  the 
Commanders  of  the  American  Ships  of  War,  and  Gun  Boats, 
and  to  the  Collectors  of  the  Customs  to  enjoin  the  Pilots  and 
Masters  of  Revenue  Cutters  to  give  notice  to  the  Masters  of  all 
foreign  Ships  and  Vessels  attempting  to  enter  the  harbours 
and  Waters  of  the  United  States  of  the  forfeiture  they  will  in 
cur  under  the  Non  intercourse  act  by  entering  the  Harbours 
and  Waters  of  these  States.  Such  a  notice  to  persons  ignorant 
of  the  act  is  reasonable,  and  may  eventually  save  the  unpleas 
ant  circumstance  of  remonstrance  for  want  of  due  notice  — 


TO  DOCTOE   CEOKE.2 

April  (?)  1809 

SIR. 

By  the  Brig  General  Prevost,  Tupper  Master,  I  did  myself 
the  Honor  to  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  the  Non  intercourse  Act 
passed  in  the  late  Session  of  Congress ;  together  with  an  ab 
stract  of  Mr  Gallatiii  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  his  circular  letter  of  instructions  to  the  Col 
lectors  of  the  Customs,  explanatory  of  the  Act  and  directing 
the  manner  in  which  they  were  to  conform  their  conduct  un 
der  it. — I  informed  you  at  the  same  time,  that  I  had  stated  to 
His  Majestys  Minister  at  Washington,  the  objections  to  the  in 
structions  contained  in  the  circular  letter  before  mentioned ; 
and  took  the  liberty  to  recommend  to  him  in  the  Event  of  his 
concurring  in  opinion  with  me,  a  remonstrance  on  the  part  of 

i  The  act  of  March  1,  1809. 
2  Dr.  Croke  at  this  time  was  Acting  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia. 

19 


290       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

His  Majesty. —  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  Mr  Erskine  His 
Majestys  Minister  made  such  a  representation  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  that  he  on  the  reconsideration  of  his  in 
structions  has  thought  proper  to  make  the  alterations  sug 
gested.  I  inclose  you  the  circular  on  this  subject,  whereby 
foreign  Vessels  are  now  permitted  to  clear  out  until  the  20th 
of  May  next  in  ballast,  or  with  the  Cargoes  they  brought 
into  Port,  provided  they  have  not  been  landed,  for  any  port 
whatever. 


TO  CAPTAIN  HAWKES,  H.   M.  S.  MELAMPUS. 

New  York  31st  May  1809 
SIR 

I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  yesterday  ac 
quainting  me  with  your  being  off  Sandy  Hook  with  His  maj- 
estys  Ships  Melampus  and  Euridice  under  your  Command,  in 
cruizing  along  this  coast  to  endeavor  to  intercept  a  French 
Frigate  supposed  to  be  in  Boston  or  some  other  Port  in  these 
States,  and  requesting  me  to  furnish  you  with  any  intelligence 
of  which  I  may  be  possessed. 

I  have  not  heard  of  any  French  Frigate  or  other  Ship  of 
War  having  arrived  for  months  past  or  now  being  in  any  Port 
within  the  United  States  of  America  nor  do  I  believe  there  is  j 
nor  have  I  any  local  or  foreign  news  to  communicate.  I  re 
gret  that  my  last  file  of  papers  were  forwarded  on  Monday  to 
B.  Admiral  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane. —  On  the  10th  of  June  the 
intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  these  States  is  to  be 
renewed,  and  His  Majestys  orders  in  Council  revoked  as  to 
American  Ships.  Congress  are  now  sitting,  and  an  act  has 
passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and  will  probably  pass 
the  Senate  and  President  opening  the  Ports  to  British  Ships 
immediately.  This  act,  I  have  some  reason  to  believe,  will 
be  on  tomorrow  or  next  day. —  Should  either  of  the  Ships  of 
War  under  your  command  be  in  want  of  supplies,  perhaps  it 
would  be  as  well  to  remain  off  and  on  a  day  or  two  to  know 
the  fate  of  this  Act,  of  this  however  you  are  the  best  Judge. — 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  291 

TO  ME.  HAMMOND. 

New  York  16th  Novr  1809 

(Private.) 
Sm. 

As  I  am  ignorant  whether  Mr  Jackson  His  Majesty s  Minis 
ter  to  these  States  did  communicate  by  the  Africaine  Frigate 
to  His  Majesty  s  Secretary  of  State  for  the  foreign  Department 
the  unpleasant  event  detailed  in  the  inclosed  letter  •  or  even 
whether  it  had  occurred  prior  to  the  departure  of  the  Afri 
caine  from  the  Chesepeak,  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  send  to  you 
a  copy  of  a  circular  Letter  received  by  me  this  day  from  Mr 
Jackson,  which  you  will  have  the  Goodness  to  lay  before  the 
Secretary  of  the  foreign  Department,  provided  he  has  not  been 
advised  by  Mr  Jackson  on  the  Subject  — l 


TO  ME.  JACKSON. 

New  York  24th  November  1809 
SIR. 

I  regret  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  return  you  a  satisfac 
tory  answer  to  the  first  of  your  Questions  respecting  the  num 
ber  of  Militia  men  assembled  in  the  States  belonging  to  my 
district  in  consequence  of  the  Presidents  orders  for  100000 
men  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness. —  It  appears,  from  cor 
rect  information,  that  the  American  Secretary  of  War,  sent  an 
order  to  the  Governor  of  each  State,  specifying  the  number  of 
men  the  State  he  commanded  was  to  furnish,  but  that  he  did 
not  communicate  to  such  Governor  the  Contingent  to  be  fur 
nished  by  each  of  the  other  States.  I  can  therefore  only  give 
the  number  this  State  furnished,  and  I  inclose  you  Mr  Skin- 

i  The  "  unpleasant  event  "was  the  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  323.  Mr. 

refusal  of  the  United  States  Govern-  Erskine  had  been  recalled  upon  the 

ment  on  November  8  to  receive  fur-  disavowal  by  the  British  Government 

ther  communications  from  Mr.  Jack-  of  the  arrangements  made  by  him, 

son.     The  circular  letter  addressed  and  Francis  James  Jackson  was  ap- 

by  Mr.  Jackson  to  the  British  con-  pointed  his  successor.      He  arrived 

suls  is  printed  in  American  State  in  Washington  September  8,  1809. 


292  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   THOMAS   BARCLAY 

ner,  the  Consul  ad  interim,  during  the  absence  of  lMr  Alton 
who  is  His  Majestys  Consul  for  Massachusetts,  New  Hamp 
shire  and  Vermont,  his  report  of  the  Quota  promised  by  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  the  report  of  Mr  Gilpin ;  Vice  Consul  for 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  The  Governor  of  Connecticut 
refused  to  obey  the  order  of  the  President,  no  militia  therefore 
were  embodied  under  that  order  in  that  State.  I  inclose  for 
your  information  a  copy  of  the  return  of  the  Militia  of  the 
United  States ;  contained  in  Mr  Jeffersons  letter  to  Congress  of 
the  25  of  March  1808,  this  return  was  the  Scale  on  which  the 
relative  quotas  of  each  state  was  graduated.  You  will  per 
ceive  by  contrasting  New  York  with  Massachusetts,  that  the 
proportions  are  not  arithmetically  correct,  still  perhaps  suffi 
ciently  so  to  take  either  of  them  to  resolve  the  probable  num 
ber  furnished  by  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  the  two  States 
from  which  it  is  impracticable  without  expense  and  great 
trouble  to  obtain  returns. —  The  State  of  New  York  furnished 
14339  Militia  men  under  the  order  of  the  President. —  They 
never  were  assembled  at  the  same  time  and  place.  Each 
county  in  this  State  furnished  its  proportion  of  the  14339 
Men,  under  the  order  of  the  Governor  of  this  State.  They 
were  drafted ;  and  in  some  Counties,  the  men  were  three  times 
assembled,  in  others  only  once,  and  in  a  few  of  the  Counties 
they  never  were  assembled.  In  the  County  of  New  York  they 
assembled  once :  but  on  legal  advice  being  taken,  it  was  dis 
covered,  their  attendance  could  not  be  compelled,  and  the  two 
subsequent  meetings  of  the  drafted  Militia  for  that  City  and 
County  were  very  incomplete. —  The  Drafts  were  generally  of 
ficered,  in  some  Counties  formed  into  Companies  —  The  Gov 
ernors  order  specified  the  respective  divisions  which  were  to 
form  each  Battalion  but  these  Divisions  never  united  so  as  in 
reality  to  form  Battalions.  They  did  not  receive  clothing. 
They  were  all  armed  with  their  own  Arms,  which  were  of  dif 
ferent  Calibres,  and  various  lengths,  some  with  Bayonets,  oth 
ers  without,  and  not  a  fourth  with  Cartouch  boxes.  The  Arms 
generally  speaking  the  reverse  of  serviceable. —  Not  any  pro 
ficiency  was  made  in  their  Military  Exercise  and  Movements. 
The  drafted  men  were  exempt  from  assembling  with  the  Vol- 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  293 

unteer  Corps  and  common  Militia  on  the  ordinary  days  pre 
scribed  by  Law ;  until  they  were  discharged  from  the  Special 
duty  for  which  they  had  been  drafted. 


TO  MK.  MOKIEK.1 

New  York  10th  October  1810 
Sm. 

By  the  Sandwich  Packet  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr  Hamil 
ton  the  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  foreign  Affairs  acquainting 
me  that  he  had  sent  to  me  in  that  Packet  a  Box  containing 
several  copies  of  Mr  G-oldsmiths  Book  upon  the  secret  History 
of  the  Cabinet  of  Buonaparte :  2  and  that  he  was  directed  by 
the  Marquis  of  Wellesley 3  to  desire  that  I  would  forward  a 
dozen  copies  of  it  to  you,  and  take  your  opinion  respecting  the 
manner  in  which  I  should  distribute  the  remainder. 

By  this  days  Mail  I  forward  you  one  of  these  copies,  and  beg 
your  directions  whether  I  shall  send  the  remainder  in  a  Box 
by  the  mail,  or  by  water. —  Permit  me  to  request  your  opinion 
in  what  manner  I  shall  distribute  the  rest,  so  as  to  render 
their  contents  generally  known  in  these  States. 

1  John  Philip  Morier,  British  Sec-  ter  being  brought  to  the  notice  of 
retary  of  Legation,  and  Charge  d'Af-  Parliament   on  June    24,   1811,  the 
faires  ad  interim.  Government  expressed  great  indig- 

2  Lewis  Goldsmith  was  a   Portu.  nation,  and  promised  to  punish  the 
guese  Jew  by  descent,  an  English-  author.     Their  indignation  did  not, 
man  by  birth,  and  a  journalist  by  however,  lead  them  to  take  any  ef- 
prof  ession.     He  lived  many  years  in  f  ective   steps,   nor  did   it    prevent 
France,  and  was  the  father-in-law  their  using  strenuous  efforts  to  con- 
of  Lord  Lyndhurst.     According  to  tinue  circulating  his  scurrilous  Se- 
his  own  account,  he  was  on  intimate  cret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of  Bona- 
terms  with  Napoleon,  who  trusted  parte.    He  died  in  extreme  old  age 
him  with  large  sums  of  money  and  at  Paris  in  1846. 

employed  him  as  a  secret  agent  in  3  The  Marquis  of  Wellesley,  elder 
various  dishonorable  transactions  —  brother  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
among  other  things  in  an  attempt  to  was  appointed  Foreign  Secretary  on 
kidnap  Louis  XVIII.  In  1809  he  December  6,  1809,  upon  Canning's 
escaped  to  England,  and  in  1811  withdrawal  from  Perceval's  admin- 
started  a  subscription  for  setting  a  istration. 
price  on  Napoleon's  head.  This  mat- 


294       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Some  delay  occurred  in  getting  leave  from  the  Custom 
House  to  Land  the  Box,  as  it  was  not  included  in  the  mails,  to 
which  cause  you  are  to  attribute  your  not  having  received  the 
copy  more  early. 

TO  MK.   HAMILTON.1 

New  York  6  NoV  1810. 
SIR. 

I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  you  for  the  information  of  the  Mar 
quis  of  Wellesley,  that  Mr  Morier  having  given  me  his  opinion 
that  the  most  eligible  mode  to  distribute  the  copies  of  Gold 
smiths  Secret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of  Buonaparte,  sent  by 
you  to  me,  was  to  forward  some  sets  to  each  of  His  Majesty s 
Consuls  resident  in  these  States,  I  have  in  compliance  with  his 
directions  sent  six  sets  to  Mr  Bond  His  Majesty  s  Consul  Gen 
eral  for  the  middle  and  Southern  States,  an  equal  Number  to 
Mr  Allen  Consul  for  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and 
Rhode  Island,  and  three  sets  to  each  of  His  Majestys  Consuls 
for  Maryland,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  —  The  remainder 
after  forwarding  a  dozen  copies  to  Mr  Morier,  I  have  given  to 
well  disposed  Individuals,  who  have  promised  me  to  circulate 
the  contents  to  the  utmost  of  their  power  —  One  copy  I  gave 
to  Mr  Sargeant  a  Bookseller,  who  has  now  in  the  press  2000 
Copies  which  will  be  ready  for  sale  in  a  few  days.2 


TO    THE    COMMANDER    OF    HIS    BRITANNIC    MAJESTY'S 
SHIP    OF  WAR    OFF  SANDY  HOOK. 

BRITISH   CONSUL   GENERALS  OFFICE 

New  York  2d  May  1811. 

SIR. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  you  a  letter  received  from  the 
Mayor  of  this  City,  respecting  the  impressment  yesterday  of 

1  William  Richard  Hamilton,  Un-  2  Sergeant's  edition  is  in  two  voi 
der  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  umes,  18mo,  and  is  accompanied  by 
Affairs  from  October  16,  1809,  to  "  Notes  by  a  Gentleman  of  New- 
January  22,  1822.  York." 


1807-1812  295 

John  Deggins,1  a  native  Citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America 
from  the  American  Brig  Spitfire,  and  now  on  board  His  Ma 
jesty  s  Ship  under  your  command  off  this  Port.  I  also  inclose 
three  affidavits  taken  before  the  Mayor,  which  fully  prove  that 
Diggins  is  a  native  Citizen  of  these  States,  forcibly  taken  yes 
terday  from  the  Spitfire  and  carried  on  board  H:  M:  Ship  un 
der  your  command  5  and  your  refusal  to  restore  him  to  Josiah 
Fichett,  his  master,  who  was  a  passenger  on  board  the  Spitfire. 

In  addition  to  the  Arguments  which  the  inclosed  depositions 
naturally  suggest  for  the  discharge  of  this  man,  permit  me  to 
remark,  that  the  impressment  of  a  native  American  at  this 
moment  is  peculiarly  unfortunate  as  the  two  Nations  are  far 
from  being  on  friendly  Terms;  and  one  of  the  points  most  ob 
stinately  persevered  in  on  the  part  of  these  States  in  their  nego 
tiations  with  Great  Britain,  and  which  at  present  forms  the 
principal  objection  to  a  Treaty,  is  "  that  the  Commanders  of 
His  Majesty  s  Ships  of  War  shall  not  be  permitted  to  impress 
men  from  American  Vessels."  Now  notwithstanding  His  Ma 
jesty  can  never  surrender  his  right  to  take  His  Subjects  when 
found  at  Sea  on  board  neutral  Ships,  still  every  instance  of  an 
illegal,  unjustifiable  impressment  tends  to  weaken  this  right 
and  to  furnish  an  argument  for  its  being  given  up  — 

I  flatter  myself  on  a  perusal  of  the  inclosed  papers,  you  will 
readily  deliver  up  the  young  man  to  the  Person,  who  is  the 
Bearer  of  this  letter,  and  who  is  authorized  by  Mr  Fichett  to 
receive  him.  Allow  me  to  assure  you  that  the  good  of  the 
Service  requires  that  you  should  at  present  refrain  to  make 
impressments  on  the  coasts  of  these  States. 

I  am  under  the  awkward  necessity  of  addressing  this  letter 
to  you,  simply,  as  "  the  Commander  of  His  Majestys  Ship  of 
War  off  Sandy  Hook/7  not  knowing  either  your  name,  or  that 
of  your  Ship.2  For  several  days  past  we  have  had  accounts 
of  your  being  off  and  on  this  Port,  but  not  a  person  has  ar- 

1  Deggins,   Digo,   or  Diggio,  has  Belt  on  May  16.    See  further  as  to 

obtained  a  certain  historical  impor-  his  impressment,  page  297,  below, 
tance,  because  it  was  while  seeking        2  The  ship  was  the  Guerriere,  after- 

to  investigate  his  case  that  the  Presi-  ward   destroyed   in   action  by  the 

dent  met  and  fired  upon  the  Little  Constitution. 


296  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

rived  who  has  been  able  to  give  the  name  of  the  Ship  or 
her  Commander  — 


TO   REAR   ADMIRAL   SIK   FRANCIS   LAFNEY,    LEEWARD 
ISLANDS. 

BRITISH   CONSUL  GENERALS  OFFICE 

New  York  11th  May  1811. 
SIR. 

It  may  not  be  improper  in  me  to  explain  to  you  my  induce 
ment  for  occasionally  making  to  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty, 
and  to  the  Commanders  in  Chief  of  His  Majestys  Ships  of 
War  on  foreign  Stations  applications  of  the  nature  I  am  now 
about  to  make  to  you,  as  in  addition  to  reasons  of  more  con 
sequence  ;  I  shall  acquit  myself  of  the  imputation  of  improper 
interference. — You  are  not  unacquainted,  that  the  American 
Government  are  loud  in  their  complaints  and  remonstrances 
that  Citizens  of  these  States  are  frequently  impressed  and  de 
tained  on  board  His  Majestys  Ships  of  War;  and  if  I  am  not 
misinformed,  one  of  the  principal  present  difficulties  in  effect 
ing  a  treaty  between  His  Majesty  and  these  States,  arises  from 
impressments  of  American  Seamen,  to  prevent  which  the 
American  Government  require  that  no  Seamen  shall  be  im 
pressed  from  American  Ships — A  point  that  can  never  be 
agreed  to  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty. —  From  these  remarks,  I 
trust  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  if  any  instances  occur  in 
which  the  Commanders  of  any  of  His  Majestys  Ships  of  War 
have  through  mistake  or  otherwise  impressed  a  Native  Citizen 
of  these  States,  it  is  for  the  benefit  of  His  Majestys  Service, 
that  the  circumstance  should  remain  unreported  to  the  Amer 
ican  Government,  and  thereby  an  official  representation  and 
remonstrance  prevented. —  Under  this  conviction  I  have  made 
it  a  rule  to  receive  private  applications,  and  after  making  due 
inquiry  to  transmit  either  to  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  or 
the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Squadron  wherein  such  Sea 
man  is,  the  necessary  documents  to  prove  him  a  native  Citizen 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  297 

and  to  identify  his  person  —  Allow  me  to  add  that  by  this 
mode  the  Parties  are  less  irritated,  and  generally  satisfied  with 
what  I  say  to  them. 

I  am  now  requested  by  Mr  Spook  the  father  of  James  Spook 
both  of  whom  are  native  Citizens  of  these  States  to  intreat 
you  will  have  the  goodness  to  order  James  Spook  to  be  dis 
charged  from  whatever  ships  he  may  be  in  under  your  com 
mand —  He  was  originally  impressed  on  board  His  Majestys 
Brig  Frolick,  T  Whingates  Esqr  Commander :  and  I  inclose  for 
your  satisfaction,  the  Certificate  of  his  Citizenship,  the  depo 
sition  of  the  Father,  and  certain  Questions  to  be  put  to  the 
Youth,  with  the  answers  he  ought  to  make,  to  entitle  him  to 
his  discharge.  Certificates  of  Citizenship,  are  evidence  I  place 
little  confidence  in ;  the  intention  on  the  part  of  Congress  was 
correct;  but  the  Certificates  have  been  issued  to  all  descrip 
tions  of  persons,  from  the  native  American  to  the  Irish  and 
Scotsman  not  two  months  from  his  native  Country. — 


TO   REAR-ADMIRAL   SAWYER,   HALIFAX. 

BRITISH   CONSUL   GENERALS  OFFICE 

New  York  20th  May  1811. 

SIR  — 

I  am  under  the  necessity  of  calling  your  attention  to  the 
two  following  cases  of  impressment  by  Captain  Pashell  of  His 
Majestys  Ship  Guerriere.  On  the  first  of  these  I  wrote  to 
Captain  Pashell  while  he  was  off  this  Port,  and  a  Pilot  Boat 
was  despatched  to  deliver  it,  the  Boat  returned  without  being 
able  to  meet  the  Guerriere  and  the  letter  is  on  board  the  Rev 
enue  Cutter  now  at  Sea  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  it. —  On 
the  first  instant  John  Digo  a  native  citizen  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  an  apprentice  to  Josiah  Fichet  of  Port 
land  Ship  Carpenter  was  impressed  off  this  Port  from  on 
board  the  American  Brig  Spitfire  of  Portland  in  the  Province 
of  Main,  a  new  Vessel  built  by  Mr  Fichet  coming  to  this  place 
for  sale,  by  His  Majestys  Frigate  Guerriere.  Mr  Fichet  went 
on  board  the  Gueriere  claimed  the  young  man,  but  Captain 


298  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Pashell  refused  to  deliver  him  —  I  have  examined  Mr  Fichett 
and  the  Captain  of  the  Brig  as  well  as  several  other  persons, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  Digeo  is  a  Native  Citizen  of  these 
States  —  He  was  born  at  Cape  Elizabeth  in  the  Province  of 
Main  and  has  a  Scar  on  the  back  of  one  of  his  hands  — 

On  the  fifth  of  May  off  Long  Island  to  the  N :  E  of  this 
Port,  Captain  Pashell  also  impressed  another  American  Sea 
man  from  the  American  Sloop  George  named  Gideon  Caprion, 
the  documents  respecting  whom  I  have  the  Honor  to  inclose  — 
At  the  present  moment  such  impressments  off  the  mouths  of 
American  Ports  are  peculiarly  unfortunate,  and  what  adds  to 
the  disagreeableness  of  the  circumstances,  is  that  both  these 
men  belong  to  Eastern  States  who  are  not  in  the  habit  of  giv 
ing  Certificates  of  Citizenship  to  His  Majestys  Subjects;  have 
few  of  their  men  impressed  through  mistake,  and  are  therefore 
more  sensibly  hurt,  whenever  such  accidents  occur  in  addition 
to  which  the  people  of  the  Eastern  States  are  more  Friendly 
to  the  English  than  all  the  other  States. —  Permit  me  there 
fore  to  request  you  will  have  the  Goodness  to  order  these  two 
young  men  to  be  discharged,  and  when  discharged  to  direct  them 
to  be  delivered  to  Mr  Lawrence  Hartshorne,  who  has  my  direc 
tions  to  supply  them  with  money  to  carry  them  to  their  Homes. 

I  have  stated  these  impressments  to  have  been  made  by 
Cap*  Pashell  of  H.  M.  S.  Gueriere ;  yet  I  am  not  positive  this 
is  the  case.  The  Commander  of  the  Frigate  which  has  been 
for  some  days  off  this  Coast  concealed  his  own  and  his  Ships 
name.  But  several  Vessels  which  came  into  Port  have  Stated 
that  the  name  of  the  Frigate  was  Gueriere.  Yet  I  observe  in 
the  News  Paper  which  I  inclose  to  you  that  the  name  of  the 
Ship  on  board  of  which  Digo  or  Diggio  was  impressed,  is  said 
to  be  the  Pizarro.  This  you  can  easily  ascertain. 

TO  THE  MARQUIS   OF  WELLESLEY. 

B :  C :  G :  Office  New  York  16  Augf  1811. 
MY  LORD — 

I  received  by  the  last  Pacquet  a  letter  from  Mr  Hamilton 
under  Secretary  for  the  foreign  department  of  State  dated  the 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  299 

17th  of  June,  in  which  he  informs  me  that  your  Lordship  had 
directed  him  to  transmit  to  me  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  Rear 
Admiral  Sir  Francis  Laf  ney  Bar* :  Commander  in  Chief  in  the 
Leeward  Islands,  representing  that  the  French  Privateer  La 
Diligente  had  captured  several  English  and  Spanish  Vessels, 
and  that  she  was  reported  to  be  in  part  owned  by  persons  in 
New  York  whither  she  was  bound  j  and  that  your  Lordship 
desired  me  to  enquire  into  the  truth  of  the  above  statement 
and  to  report  to  your  Lordship  the  result  of  my  enquiries  and 
also  to  communicate  the  same  to  His  Majesty s  Minister  at 
Washington  — 

In  obedience  to  your  Lordships  directions  I  have  made  an 
attentive  search  through  the  Books  of  the  Customs  in  this  City, 
and  in  the  different  Insurance  offices  here,  in  which  registers 
are  left  of  any  Vessel  which  arrives  in  this  Port ;  but  not  a 
Vestige  is  to  be  found,  that  a  Privateer,  or  any  other  Vessel, 
of  the  name  of  La  Diligente  has  been  in  this  Port  or  is  owned 
by  a  Person  in  this  City ;  nor  have  the  officers  of  the  Cus 
toms,  or  of  the  Insurance  offices  any  recollection  of  such  a 
vessel  having  entered  or  departed  this  Port.  I  have  extended 
my  enquiries  to  the  Pilots  and  other  Individuals  who  it  was 
probable  might  recollect  the  Circumstance,  all  of  whom  assure 
me  they  believe  such  a  vessel  never  was  here  of  that  name  — 

La  Diligente,  Grassin  Commander  is  a  French  Privateer  well 
known  throughout  these  States,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
number  of  English  Spanish  and  American  Vessels  which  she 
has  captured,  plundered,  in  some  instances  allowed  to  be  ran 
somed,  but  generally  destroyed.  The  number  of  American 
Vessels  by  her  captured  far  exceeds,  that  of  English  and  Span 
ish  United.  Captain  Grassin  arrived  in  La  Diligente  this  last 
Spring  at  Philadelphia,  where  he  and  his  Schooner  still  re 
main.  The  American  News  papers  have  been  filled  with  details 
of  American  Ships  by  him  captured  and  destroyed.  The  Pop 
ulace  in  Philadelphia  meditated  to  burn  this  Schooner,  at  the 
instance  however  of  Captain  Grassin  the  Governor  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  issued  a  Proclamation  inhibiting  under  heavy 
penalties  any  person  or  persons  from  injuring  or  molesting 
the  person  or  property  of  Captain  Grassin  in  consequence  of 


300        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

which  the  Vessel  remains  safe  at  Philadelphia  —  Several  ac 
tions  have  been  commenced  against  Captain  Grassin  by  Citi 
zens  of  these  States,  not  any  of  which  have  yet  been  tried  — 

It  is  said  a  Frenchman  named  Guier  who  lately  removed 
from  Baltimore  to  this  City  and  who  I  understand  is  not  a  re 
spectable  Character  is  a  part  owner  of  the  La  Diligente.  It 
has  also  been  suggested  that  Guier  is  merely  the  nominal 
owner  —  I  sent  a  Frenchman  in  whom  I  could  confide  to  en 
deavour  to  draw  from  him  whether  he  was  really  the  owner  or 
in  any  way  interested  in  the  Vessel.  The  inquiry  was  well 
managed  the  subject  introduced  as  if  by  accident  and  he  was 
asked  whether  he  had  made  any  insurance  on  his  Vessel  in 
Philadelphia  against  any  acts  of  violence  which  might  there 
be  committed  against  her  —  He  replied  he  had  no  interest  in 
the  Vessel  and  was  merely  Agent  to  Captain  Grassin  — 

There  is  at  present  a  small  French  Privateer  from  L'Orient 
cruizing  off  this  Port,  named  the  Marengo,  Ordonaux  Mas 
ter —  Captain  Lawrence  of  His  Majesty s  Packet  the  Duke  of 
Kent  is  under  no  apprehension  of  danger  from  her. 

TO   MR.  FOSTER.1 

New  York  28th  August  1811 

SIR. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  send  addressed  to  you  the  Evening 
Paper  of  this  day,  from  which  you  will  perceive  that  the  Brit 
ish  Merchant  Ship  Tottenham,  Young  Master,  arrived  in  this 
Port  at  3  oClock  this  afternoon,  a  Prize  to  the  French  Priva 
teer  the  Duke  of  Dantzic,  Arregnaudic  Commander,  member 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  Tottenham  was  captured  off 
Barbadoes  the  3d  instant  —  The  Captain  and  Crew,  three  men 
and  two  Boys  excepted  who  were  left  on  Board  her,  were 
taken  on  board  the  Privateer. —  I  have  seen  the  Tottenham, 
She  appears  a  Ship  of  600  Tons,  I  am  told  is  laden  with  Coals, 
the  British  Flag  hoisted  under  that  of  France  — 

1  Augustus  J.  Foster  was  ap-  in  Washington  July  1.  He  had  al- 
pointed  as  Minister  to  the  United  ready  been  here  as  secretary  to  Mr. 
States  in  April,  1811,  and  arrived  M.erry. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  301 

The  above  information  I  have  thought  necessary  to  give 
you,  as  I  do  not  know  of  any  Law  of  nations,  which  allows 
the  Prizes  of  Belligerents  to  be  brought  in  and  receive  pro 
tection  and  comforts  in  a  Port  of  a  nation  at  peace  with  both 
the  Belligerents  —  The  Collector  here  can  do  nothing,  conse 
quently  an  application  from  you  to  the  American  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  restoration  of  this  Ship  is  the  only  possible  mode 
by  which  possession  can  be  obtained  —  I  am  told  by  a  man 
who  was  on  board  the  Tottenham  that  all  the  Prize  Crew  are 
British  or  American  Seamen  as  they  spoke  the  English  Ian 
guage  with  great  fluency. 


TO    ME.    FOSTER. 

New  York  2nd  December,  1811. 
DEAR  SIR. 

Having  some  days  since  discovered  that  the  collector  of  the 
customs  in  this  port,  had  granted  permission  to  the  captors  of 
the  British  Ship  Tottenham,  a  prize  now  here,  taken  by  a 
French  Privateer  in  the  West  Indies,  to  sell  the  cargo  of  that 
ship,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  her;  and  being  convinced 
that  the  captors  did  not  intend  to  repair  the  ship,  and  that 
their  object  was  only  to  realize  the  amount  of  the  cargo,  I 
considered  it  my  duty  to  remonstrate  against  it,  and  wrote  to 
the  collector  a  Letter  to  that  effect,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  the 
Honor  to  enclose.  You  are  the  best  judge,  Sir,  how  far  such 
a  License,  operates  in  violation  of  those  principles  of  neutral 
ity  which  the  United  States  of  America  uniformly  assert  they 
scrupulously  maintain  towards  Great  Britain  and  France. 
Permit  me  to  make  this  one  remark,  that  the  sale  of  the  whole 
was  incorrect,  because  it  was  uncertain  what  the  amount  of 
repairs  and  other  incidental  charges  would  be  j  I  am  further 
of  opinion  that  the  repairs  should  have  been  made  before  the 
permission  for  the  sale  was  granted.  The  cargo  though  not 
amounting  to  a  large  sum,  I  am  of  opinion  will  pay  more  than 
double  the  expense  of  repairs  and  charges. 

Permissions  like  this  will  induce  the  Commanders  of  French 
Privateers  to  send  their  prizes  to  these  States,  as  the  proceeds 


302       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

of  the  cargo  sold  here  under  a  Custom  House  License,  will 
amount  to  something  of  consequence ;  and  while  it  is  so  much 
saved  to  the  captors,  it  takes  from  His  Majesty s  subjects  the 
possibility  of  recapture. 


FROM   SIR   GEOBGE   PEEVOST.1 

Quebec  4th.  January,  1812. 
DEAR  SIR  :  — 

I  have  been  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  September  and 
October  letters  to  announce  to  you  my  appointment  to  the 
Chief  Command,  Civil  and  Military,  in  the  British  American 
provinces,  but  from  some  cause,  hitherto  unknown,  neither 
the  one  or  the  other  of  those  mails  has  yet  reached  Quebec  — 
However  I  will  no  longer  delay  acquainting  you  that  under  a 
special  Instruction  from  the  Prince  Regent  I  assumed  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  Government  of  Lower  Canada,  until  a 
Commission  of  Captain  General  could  be  sent  to  me,  and  that 
I  received  about  the  same  time  His  Royal  Highness's  appoint 
ment  as  Commander  of  the  Forces  in  British  America. — 

Considering  the  spirit  of  hostility  shewn  to  England  by  the 
United  States  no  longer  likely  to  be  confined  to  a  paper  and 
commercial  warfare,  and  that  therefore  it  is  of  importance  I 
should  receive  a  correct  account  of  the  disposition  and  views 
of  the  American  Government,  I  have  sent  Capt.  Coore  one  of 
my  Aids  de  Camp  to  Mr.  Forster  for  that  purpose,  who  is  in 
structed  to  communicate  with  you  as  he  passes  through  New 
York.  As  great  confidence  may  be  placed  in  Captain  Coore's 

1  Sir  George  Prevost,  born  in  New  credit,  became  a  Baronet  and  Lieu- 
York  in  1767,  was  the  son  of  Angus-  tenant-General,  and  succeeded  Sir 
tine  Prevost,  an  officer  in  the  British  James  Craig  as  Commander  of  the 
Army,  and  Theodosia  de  Visine,  his  Forces  in  British  North  America  — 
wife.  Augustine  Prevost  having  died  a  post  he  held  all  through  the  war 
in  the  West  Indies  about  1776.  his  with  the  United  States.  His  military 
widow  married  Aaron  Burr  and  be-  career  came  to  an  end  with  the  fail- 
came  the  mother  of  Theodosia  Al-  ure  of  his  attack  on  Plattsburgh  in 
ston.  George  Prevost  entered  the  September,  1814.  He  died  in  London 
British  Army,  served  with  some  in  January,  1816. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  303 

discretion,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  him  for  any  further  par 
ticulars  respecting  his  present  mission. 

I  have  etc. 

GEORGE  PREVOST. 

FROM  SIR  JOHN  SHERBROOKE.1 

Halifax,  13th  Jany,  1812. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: — 

As  the  Packets  going  home  do  not  touch  here  at  this  season 
of  the  year  and  as  some  of  the  Merchants  are  very  desirous  of 
sending  letters  to  England  I  have  for  the  public  accommoda 
tion  ordered  a  Government  Schooner  to  New  York  in  the  ex 
pectation  that  She  will  arrive  there  before  the  next  packet  will 
sail  from  thence  for  Falmouth  and  as  we  are  very  much  in  the 
dark  here  with  respect  to  the  State  of  Public  Affairs  in  your 
part  of  the  world,  I  shall  hope  to  be  favoured  with  a  letter 
from  you  by  this  Vessel  when  She  returns. 

I  beg  to  offer  you  my  best  thanks  for  some  New  York  Ga 
zettes  to  3rd.  Dec.  last  which  you  were  so  obliging  as  to  send 
me  Via  Eastport  &  which  were  particularly  acceptable. 

As  I  think  it  probable  that  Mr.  Forster  may  wish  to  com 
municate  with  Admiral  Sawyer  or  with  me,  I  enclose  a  letter 
which  I  beg  you  will  forward  to  Him,  and  I  should  wish  the 
Schooner  to  remain  at  New  York  until  you  receive  Mr.  Fors- 
ters  answer  in  case  He  should  have  any  letter  to  send. 

The  Commander  of  the  Schooner  has  received  orders  to  re 
port  himself  to  you  on  his  arrival  at  New  York,  &  to  attend  to 
any  directions  which  you  may  think  proper  to  give  Him.  If 
you  have  not  already  forwarded  the  Articles  which  your  Son 
was  so  good  as  to  request  you  would  purchase  for  me  some 
time  ago,  I  beg  they  may  be  sent  by  this  Conveyance  and  as  I 
have  desired  the  Commander  of  the  Vessel  to  buy  several  other 
things  for  me  at  New  York  I  shall  be  indebted  to  you  if  you 
will  afford  him  every  assistance  in  making  these  purchases. 

I  have  etc. 

J.  C.  SHERBROOKE. 

1  Commander  of  the  Forces  at  Halifax. 


304        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 


DEAR  SIR. 


TO   SIB  GEORGE   PKEVOST. 

New  York,  22nd  January,  1812. 


Captain  Coore  a  few  days  since  delivered  me  your  private 
Letter  of  the  4th  of  this  month,  announcing  your  appointment 
to  the  chief  command,  civil  and  military  in  the  British  Ameri 
can  Provinces.  Permit  me  to  congratulate  you  on  this  ad 
ditional  Testimony  of  His  Majesty s  gracious  confidence  in 
you,  and  His  Eoyal  approbation  of  your  conduct.  Mr.  Foster 
whose  residence  at  Washington  affords  him  peculiar  advan 
tages  in  obtaining  correct  information  of  the  intentions  of 
this  Government,  will  naturally  possess  Captain  Coore  with 
all  that  he  knows  on  this  subject,  to  be  communicated  to  you. 
On  Captain  Coores  return  to  this  place,  I  shall  learn  from 
him;  what  Mr.  Fosters  opinion  is,  and  should  it  materially 
differ  from  mine,  I  will  give  him  my  Sentiments  and  the  rea 
son  whereon  they  are  founded,  that  you  may  form  a  correct 
Judgment.  I  agree  with  you  that  the  period  is  fast  approach 
ing  when  these  States  will  take  active  hostile  measures  against 
Great  Britain.  And  it  is  apparent  that  their  first  military 
operations  will  be  directed  against  His  Majesty  s  Provinces  of 
lower  and  upper  Canada.  I  am  satisfied  also  that  attempts 
will  be  made  to  seduce  the  Inhabitants  of  upper  Canada  gen 
erally,  and  the  French  Canadians  in  lower  Canada  from  their 
allegiance.  You  will  pardon  therefore  the  liberty  I  take  in 
recommending  the  utmost  attention  in  admitting  persons 
within  cities  of  these  provinces,  as  attempts  will  be  made  to 
introduce  characters  fitted  to  persuade  and  delude  the  igno 
rant.  There  is  a  man  who  lives  on  the  Line  (45)  between  these 
States  and  Lower  Canada,  Col.  Armstrong  knows  him,  his 
name  is  Rous.  Of  him  particular  care  should  be  taken,  and 
of  those  who  have  communications  with  him.  He  is  a  sensi 
ble,  intriguing  cunning  man,  eminently  qualified  for  such  pur 
poses,  and  well  acquainted  with  all  the  disaffected  Canadians. 
His  movements  require  special  care. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  305 

FROM  CAPTAIN  THOMSON,  H.  M.  S.  COLIBEI. 

H.  M.  Sloop  Colibri,  Staten  Island. 

Jany.  31st.  1812. 
SIR: 

I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  you  for  the  information  of  the  Ameri 
can  government  of  the  arrival  of  his  Majesty s  Sloop  under  my 
command  with  dispatches  for  the  British  Minister  at  Wash 
ington,  which  require  an  answer  and  which  I  am  to  be  the 
bearer  of,  I  have  therefore  to  request  you  will  be  pleased  to 
forward  them  without  delay  —  They  will  be  delivered  to  you 
by  Lieut.  Stephens,  he  will  inform  you  of  our  sad  disaster  at 
Amelia,  where  we  had  run  from  us  no  less  than  thirteen  men, 
eight  of  whom  took  a  boat  &  went  to  St.  Marys  on  the  Ameri 
can  side.  I  waited  on  Commodore  Campbell  and  the  public 
Authorities  requesting  them  to  grant  a  warrant  for  their  ap 
prehension  but  without  effect,  altho'  I  met  my  men  walking 
the  streets  I  dared  not  apprehend  them,  without  I  was  on  the 
eve  of  being  mob'd  for  only  speaking  to  them  and  I  consider 
myself  fortunate  to  have  escaped  without  a  broken  head,  o 
hopeful  Land  of  liberty,  you  will  perceive  Sir  how  disagreeable 
it  must  be  to  a  British  officer  to  enter  any  of  the  Ports  of  the 
United  States  at  this  critical  period,  when  we  are  in  dayly  ap 
prehension  of  our  men  deserting,  and  when  they  once  touch 
the  shore  laugh  at  us,  and  are  then  protected  by  the  public 
Authorities.  For  my  own  part  I  think  perfect  Harmony  can 
never  exist  between  the  two  country  s  until  all  deserters  are 
given  up  on  both  sides  and  this  settled  by  treaty. 

I  am  informed  there  are  a  number  of  distressed  British  sea 
men  in  New  York,  and  as  I  am  considerably  short  of  comple 
ment  I  have  to  request  you  will  use  your  exertions  to  procure 
me  some  of  them  as  we  will  make  some  stay  here.  I  have  sent 
the  Purser  to  procure  Fresh  Beef  &  vegetables  whom  I  will 
thank  you  to  assist,  we  shall  allso  want  before  we  sail  four 
live  Bullocks  with  a  proportion  of  Fodder  and  about  ten  or 
flveteen  Tons  of  water. 

I  have  etc. 

JNO.  THOMSON,  Captain. 

20 


306       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 


FROM   MR.   FOSTER. 

Washington,  March  26,  1812. 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

I  have  not  urged  this  Government  again  with  regard  to  the 
Tottenham,  nor  do  I  mean  to  do  so  until  you  shall  have  heard 
of  the  result  of  your  application  for  leave  to  ransom  her. 

The  Conduct  of  Sir  James  Craig,  should  the  papers  pro 
duced  by  Henry  prove  authentic,  in  my  opinion,  admits  of 
little  Justification.1  It  seems  to  have  been  dangerous  impoli 
tic  and  imprudent.  I  have  not  asked  to  look  at  the  papers 
nor  could  I  compare  his  Signature  with  any  Letters  in  his 
hand  writing  which  you  may  have,  without  incurring  the  Risk 
of  being  obliged  to  acknowledge  a  Resemblance,  therefore  I 
would  not  trouble  you  to  send  them  to  me. 

Should  any  flagrant  Case  of  French  Violation  of  the  Rights 
of  America  come  under  your  knowledge,  I  should  be  much 
obliged  to  you  if  you  would  send  me  an  authentic  Copy  of  any 
document  which  you  might  be  able  to  lay  your  hands  on.  I 
regret  that  Mr.  Stewart  of  New  London  has  not  sent  me  a 
Copy  of  the  Protest  of  Captain  Chew.2 

I  am  &c 

AUG.  J.  FOSTER 

I  heard  of  one  Cask  of  apples  arriving  safely  for  Mr.  Ham 
ilton  the  Un.  Secy  who  says  they  are  excellent  —  so  good  he 
wishes  for  some  more. 


1  James  Henry's  secret  correspon-  French  frigate,  and  brought  news  of 
dence  with  Sir  James  Craig  was  sent  the  burning  of  two  American  mer- 
to  Congress  on  March  9,  1812.  chantmen  by  a  French  squadron. 

2  The  brig  Thames,  Samuel  Chew,  Adams'  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  Vol.  VI, 
master,   had   been    searched  by  a  p.  193. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  307 

FEOM  ME.  FOSTEE. 

Washington  April  10,  1812 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  believe  the  U.  S.  Act  will  be  soon  suspended  or  even  re 
pealed.  You  see  it  is  brought  on  in  Congress.1  I  believe  the 
Congress  talk  of  adjourning  to  the  20  June.  There  is  a  report 
credited  by  many  that  de  W.  Clinton  will  coalesce  with  Mr. 
Madison  and  be  V.  President.  Your  New  York  politics  are 
becoming  interesting.2  If  you  hear  of  anything  decisive  in 
that  way  pray  let  me  know.  Do  you  know  what  Mr.  Villiers 
Mansel  is  come  to  this  country  about.  He  is  a  young  man  I 
believe  of  about  31  years  of  age  —  I  am  told  he  is  coming  on 
here.  I  am  &c 

AUG.  J.  FOSTER. 

Is  there  any  way  of  writing  to  England  from  New  York.  I 
return  you  many  thanks  for  your  trouble  in  trying  to  get  me 
the  documents  about  ships  captured  &c.  A.  J.  F. 


FROM  ME.  FOSTEE. 

Washington  April  24, 1812 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  19th  inst.  The  Senate 
read  twice  a  bill  for  adjourning  to-day,  time  in  blank,  supposed 
will  be  to  the  2?  June,  it  is  uncertain  if  it  will  pass  in  the  house. 
Indeed  everything  is  uncertain  here.  Last  week,  we  should 
have  all  sworn  there  would  be  war,  to-day  it's  adjournment. 
Don't  be  surprized  if  I  fear  committing  myself  in  giving  an 
opinion  when  such  changes  are  constantly  taking  place. 

I  will  be  much  obliged  to  you  to  give  me  the  Character  of 
de  Wit  Clinton  how  he  lives  at  New  York,  what  fortune  he 
has,  his  age  &  friends. 

1  A  bill  to  suspend  the  non-impor-  2  An  election  was  to  take  place  in 

tation  act  was   considered  in  the  May  ;  and  it  resulted  in  a  Federalist 

House  of  Representatives  on  April  success. 
9.    It  did  not  pass. 


308  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

I  shall  also  thank  you  to  give  me  any  information  you  may 
possess  as  to  the  State  of  defences  of  New  York  Harbor  &  as 
to  the  manufactures  lately  established  in  the  State. 

Ever  yours  &c 

AUG.  J.  FOSTER. 


FROM   VICE-ADMIRAL   SAWYER. 

Bermuda  May  7,  1812 
(Private.) 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

The  Bramble  is  charged  with  Despatches  for  Mr.  Foster, 
and  has  brought  two  Seamen  late  of  the  Chesapeake,  which  I 
retain  here  'till  the  pleasure  of  the  U.  S.  Government  is  known, 
as  to  where  they  are  to  be  sent  —  with  which  information  the 
Bramble  will  call  here  on  her  way  home  —  when  I  hope  at  the 
same  time  to  hear,  matters  at  Washington,  are  from  the  late 
aggressions  of  the  French,  putting  on  a  more  favourable  as 
pect  —  His  R.  H.  the  Regent  appears  to  have  great  difficulties 
in  forming  an  Administration,  but  we  still  trust  the  good 
sense  of  all  parties  will  prevail,  and  the  general  good  be  the 
ultimate  object  of  all  —  in  Spain  all  looks  well,1  and  in  the 
North,  it  is  to  be  hoped  Buonaparte  will  find  his  hands  full. 

I  have  very  much  to  thank  you  for  your  attention  to  all  my 
little  Commissions,  and  will  take  care  you  receive  the  amount 
in  specie,  as  soon  as  I  reach  Halifax, —  my  departure  for  which 
will  not  be  (if  no  unforeseen  occurrence  arises)  till  after  I  again 
hear  from  Mr.  Foster. 

We  have  ships  on  the  look  out  for  the  French  Frigates,  who 
seem  to  spare  their  friends  as  little  as  their  foes  —  which  is  per 
haps  at  this  moment  very  fortunate. 

Will  Mr.  Madison  in  any  shape  avow  or  countenance  the  late 
transaction  at  Amelia  ? 2 

I  am  &c 

H.  SAWYER. 

1  Ciudad    Rodrigo,    January    19 ;  though  his  action  was  disapproved, 
Badajoz,  April  6,  1812.  possession  of  the  island  was  retained 

2  General  Matthews  seized  Ame-  by  the  United  States, 
lia  Island  on  March  19,  1812;   and 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  309 

P.  S.  I  have  just  got  hold  of  130  Dollars  which  I  send  in 
part  payment  of  my  debts  —  perhaps  you  can  send  me  a  few 
Pots  of  very  superior  french  Pomatum  —  and  two  Half  Chests 
of  Tea  by  this  same  Bramble  —  or  to  Halifax  at  some  future 
time. 


FROM  ME.   FOSTEE. 

Washington  May  10,  1812 

(Private.) 
DEAR  SIR, 

It  was  a  Map  that  might  include  a  general  outline  of  the  har 
bour  of  New  York  with  its  Islands  &  batteries  that  I  wished, 
but  I  should  rather  have  a  good  plan  of  the  harbour. 

I  am  obliged  to  you  for  all  your  hints  &  for  your  Informa 
tion  about  Emigrants  to  the  U.  S.  I  fear  the  sending  back 
some  of  the  Irish  unless  done  with  great  Circonspection  might 
tend  in  a  degree  to  hold  forth  an  idea  that  returning  would  be 
a  Matter  of  little  difficulty  &  encourage  many  to  come  over  on 
speculation  to  look  about  them  in  the  hopes  of  getting  back 
for  nothing  if  they  did  not  succeed  —  tho'  the  Welsh  case  you 
cite  is  certainly  a  strong  one.  Perhaps  the  promising  to  send 
their  Letters  free  of  Expence  to  their  friends  might  have  the 
same  effect  as  their  being  sent  back  by  holding  to  them  an  in 
ducement  to  write  their  sentiments  freely  &  at  full  length.  It 
must  be  seldom  that  a  Man  who  has  once  broke  up  his  Estab 
lishment  &  the  ties  which  attach  him  to  a  Country  can  be  an 
acquisition  to  it  in  returning. 

It  is  now  thought  that  the  Restrictive  System  is  all  the  rage 
and  that  the  plan  of  war  is  but  a  Mask  to  the  continuance  of 
it, —  so  absolutely  are  they  here  without  Chart  or  Compass 
that  I  really  am  at  a  loss  to  give  you  news  —  or  accounts  of 
any  kind. 

When  I  see  such  unstable  proceedings  I  think  more  than 
ever  on  the  value  of  the  sentiments  of  Horace  justum  et  tena- 
cem  propositi  virum  &c  —  but  then  the  justum  is  as  it  should 
be  the  first  word  &  Condition  of  all  the  rest. 
20* 


310        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Be  assured  we  work  for  friendly  relations  with  America  but 
then  it  is  necessary  they  should  be  more  impartial  &  less  un 
gracious  to  us  than  they  have  hitherto  been. 

What  is  become  of  Mr.  Villiers  — it  was  said  he  was  at  Bal 
timore  —  is  it  not  strange  I/  Jersey's  Brother  should  be  here 
&  have  no  letter  for  me  who  know  Ld.  and  IS.  Jersey  very  well  ? 

Ever  Yours  &c 

AUG.  J.  FOSTER. 

I  am  glad  to  see  you  have  sent  on  my  Letters  to  Halifax  — 
where  can  the  V.  Admiral  be.  I  much  fear  some  Collision 
with  the  American  frigates  —  they  have  taken  in  6  months 
water  &  provisions  I  hear  and  are  gone  Southward. 

A.  J.  F. 


FROM   ME.   FOSTEE. 

Washington  June  20,  1812 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  am  not  yet  able  to  send  you  officially  the  decision  of  the 
American  Government  respecting  your  Consular  functions 
nor  the  act  declaring  War.  I  shall,  however,  be  able  to  do  so 
to-morrow. 

I  pray  you  to  send  off  Coasters  in  every  Direction  to 
apprize  H.  M.  Ships  of  the  State  of  things  that  they  may 
keep  together  and  join  the  admiral.  The  American  frigates 
have  no  orders  as  I  have  been  informed  to  go  far  to  Sea  in 
Search  of  our  Ships,  and  no  Privateers  will  be  yet  allowed  to 
go  to  Sea. 

Mr.  Baker1  does  not  go  on  to-morrow  but  a  Mr.  Hamilton 

1  Anthony  St.  John  Baker,  the  ning  of  the  year  1813.  He  was  Sec- 
British  Secretary  of  Legation.  He  retary  of  the  British  Commissioners 
remained  for  some  time  in  the  at  Ghent,  brought  the  ratified  treaty 
United  States  acting  as  agent  for  to  Washington,  and  was  then  re- 
prisoners  of  war.  The  Government  ceived  as  Charge  d' Affaires,  in  which 
finally  refused  to  hold  further  com-  office  he  continued  until  the  arrival 
munication  with  him,  and  he  re-  of  Mr.  Charles  Bagot  as  Minister,  in 
turned  to  England  about  the  begin-  1817. 


CONSUL-GENERAL,   1807-1812  311 

who  will  take  Dispatches  for  me  to  England  by  way  of  Hali 
fax  will  set  out  in  Monday's  mail  stage.  I  beg  you  will  en 
deavour  to  procure  a  Conveyance  for  him  either  to  drop  him  at 
Halifax  or  conditionally  to  take  him  the  whole  way  to  Eng 
land  should  the  Adm1  have  no  vessel  for  him. 

I  am  &c 

AUG.  J.  FOSTER 


CHAPTER  VII 
AGENT    FOE    BRITISH    PEISONEES 

HM.  S.  COLIBRI,  sailing  away  from  New-York  with 
•  the  British  Minister  and  the  British  Consul- 
G-eneral,  touched  at  Halifax,  and  was  there  met  by  the 
news  that  Great  Britain — just  too  late — had  suspended 
the  orders  in  council.  Foster  forwarded  the  despatches 
to  Baker,  his  Secretary  of  Legation,  at  Washington,1 
and  the  Colibri  continued  on  to  England,  arriving 
about  August  22,  1812.  If  Barclay  landed  at  Ports 
mouth,  as  is  most  likely,  he  must  have  been  welcomed 
there  by  his  naval  son,  who  had  just  been  appointed  to 
command  H.  M.  S.  Success,  then  lying  at  Portsmouth 
under  orders  for  Halifax  and  Bermuda. 

On  reaching  London,  Barclay,  like  many  an  Ameri 
can  traveler  since  his  day,  took  lodgings  in  Clarges 
street,  near  Piccadilly ;  and  later  removed  to  Queen 
street  just  out  of  Curzon  street  in  Mayfair. 

A  month  after  his  departure  from  New- York  the  war 
had  fairly  begun,  with  its  two  unpleasant  surprises  — 
defeat  for  the  Americans  on  land  and  for  the  British  at 
sea.  Hull  had  surrendered  at  Detroit  on  August  16, 
and  three  days  later  the  Constitution  had  utterly  de 
stroyed  the  Gruerriere,  after  less  than  thirty  minutes  of 
fierce  cannonading. 

The  news  of  both  events  reached  London  on  Octo- 

i  American  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  587. 

312 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  313 

ber  6.  On  September  1,  Jonathan  Bussell,  the  Amer- 
ican  Charge,  had  notified  Lord  Castlereagh  of  his 
departure  for  the  United  States,  and  of  the  appoint 
ment  of  Mr.  Beasley  as  American  agent  for  prisoners 
of  war  in  Great  Britain ;  and  three  weeks  later  he  had 
sailed  for  New-York.  It  had  thus  become  evident  that 
the  American  Government  was  in  earnest  in  its  prose 
cution  of  the  war ;  that  each  party  had  failed  where  it 
might  reasonably  have  felt  a  confidence  of  success; 
that  the  combatants  were  not  unequally  matched ;  and 
that  the  struggle  promised  to  be  long  and  doubtful. 

Prisoners  on  each  side  were  rapidly  accumulating. 
What  with  the  naval  and  military  forces  that  had  sur 
rendered,  and  the  crews  of  merchant  ships  taken  by 
privateers  or  national  vessels,  the  numbers  were  al 
ready  large.  In  England,  and  at  Quebec,  Halifax,  and 
Jamaica,  American  prisoners  were  confined  in  barracks 
or  on  shipboard.  At  Salem,  Pittsfield,  Worcester,  Al 
bany,  Savannah  and  Chillicothe,  British  soldiers  and 
sailors  were  detained, — often  with  inadequate  food  and 
clothing,  in  unsuitable  quarters,  and  not  infrequently 
in  the  common  jail.  The  appointment  of  a  British 
agent  for  prisoners  of  war,  to  reside  in  the  United 
States,  was  thus  an  obvious  necessity,  and  the  choice 
very  naturally  fell  upon  Barclay.  The  formal  mode  of 
his  appointment  is  not  a  little  singular,  as  illustrating 
the  methods  of  circumlocution  which  prevailed  in  the 
British  public  service.  On  November  13,  1812,  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty  issued  their  order  to  "the  com 
missioners  for  conducting  his  Majesty's  transport  ser 
vice,"  directing  them  to  appoint  Colonel  Barclay  their 
accredited  agent  in  the  United  States  for  the  purpose 
of  attending  to  the  relief  of  British  prisoners,  with  a 
salary  of  two  pounds  a  day,  and  allowances  for  clerk 


314  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

hire  and  traveling  expenses ;  and  thereupon  the  trans 
port  board  in  turn  issued  their  warrant  to  Barclay,  and 
gave  him  the  necessary  authority  and  instructions. 

Having  obtained  leave  from  the  Foreign  Office  to  ac 
cept  this  appointment,  Barclay  sailed  from  Portsmouth 
early  in  January  for  Bermuda,  where  he  met  and  con 
sulted  with  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren,  the  admiral  in 
command  of  the  station,  who  had  been  vested  with  ex 
tensive  powers  to  treat  with  the  American  Government. 
From  Bermuda  Barclay  proceeded  to  New- York,  where 
he  arrived  on  April  1,  1813,  and  immediately  went  to 
Washington  to  present  his  credentials  to  the  Secretary 
of  State.  The  President  had  appointed  as  Commissary- 
Greneral  of  prisoners,  General  John  Mason,  who  lived 
near  Georgetown  on  the  pleasant  island  of  Analostan ; l 
and  with  him  Barclay  at  once  proceeded  to  business. 
The  first  step  was  to  frame  a  cartel  for  regulating  ex 
changes  of  prisoners.  A  preliminary  agreement  had 
been  concluded  at  Halifax  in  November,  but  it  was  de 
fective  and  unsatisfactory  in  many  respects,  and  after 
much  discussion  a  revised  agreement  was  prepared  and 
signed  at  Washington  on  May  12, 1813.  It  provides  for 
the  humane  treatment  and  speedy  exchange  of  prison- 

1  John  Mason  was  the  fourth  son  time  of  the  war  with  England,  Ana- 
of  the  well-known  Virginia  states-  lostan  Island  (which  lies  in  the  Po- 
man,  George  Mason  of  Gunston  Hall,  tomac,  opposite  Georgetown)  was 
He  was  born  in  the  spring  of  1766,  one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  the 
and  spent  several  of  the  earlier  years  District  of  Columbia.  A  charming 
of  his  life  as  a  merchant  at  Bor-  account  of  the  house  and  grounds, 
deaux,  in  France.  He  married  a  Miss  as  also  incidentally  of  Mrs.  Mason 
Murray  of  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  thus  and  her  nine  children,  will  be  found 
became  connected  with  Richard  in  Warden's  District  of  Columbia 
Bush,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  (1816),  pp.  134-150.  "  We  walked  to 
Mrs.  Mason's.  Another  sister  was  the  Mansion  house/' says  the  writer, 
the  wife  of  Governor  Lloyd  of  Mary-  "  under  a  delicious  shade,  the  bios- 
land.  Mason  was  a  man  of  means  soms  of  the  cherry,  apple  and  peach 
and  entertained  largely,  and  at  the  trees,  of  the  hawthorn  and  aromatic 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  315 

ers  of  war ;  defines  what  persons  are  to  be  considered 
non-combatant,  and  declares  that  they  shall  not  be  held 
as  prisoners ;  authorizes  the  appointment  by  each  party 
of  sub-agents  at  the  several  depots;  establishes  the 
forms  of  paroles  for  officers,  the  allowances  for  subsis 
tence  of  prisoners  in  health,  and  the  care  to  be  given  to 
the  sick ;  specifies  what  punishments  may  be  inflicted  in 
case  of  disorderly  conduct ;  prescribes  the  number  of 
cartel-ships  to  be  employed,  and  how  they  shall  be  fitted 
and  supplied ;  and  in  general  regulates  with  great  pre 
cision  the  rights  of  prisoners  and  the  powers  and  duties 
of  prison  guards. 

This  task  completed,  and  the  troublesome  business 
of  verifying  the  number  and  rank  of  the  prisoners  on 
each  side  being  put  in  a  fair  way  of  settlement,  Barclay 
left  Washington  about  the  middle  of  May,  and  once 
more  found  himself  in  the  rural  seclusion  of  Harlem. 
New- York  was  considered  a  military  post  and  he  was 
forbidden  to  come  within  it,  so  that  his  activities  were 
necessarily  confined  to  a  very  sustained  and  vigorous 
correspondence  with  General  Mason  and  with  the  vari 
ous  British  sub-agents  throughout  the  country.  The 
correspondence  with  Mason,  extending  over  a  period 

shrubs,  filling  the  air  with  their  fra-  which  was  modeled  after  the  style 

grance.  .  .  .  The  house,  of  a  simple  of  a  French  chateau,  and  was  known 

and  neat  form,  is  situated  near  that  as  Clermont,  in  Fairfax  County,  Vir- 

side  of  the  island  which  commands  ginia ;  and  there  he  died  on  March 

a  view  of  the  Potomac,  the  Presi-  19,    1849.     One   of    his   sons,   John 

dent's  house,  the  Capitol,  and  other  Murray  Mason,   sat  in  the  United 

buildings.     The  garden,  the  sides  of  States  Senate,  and,    in  connection 

which  are  washed  by  the  waters  of  with  his  colleague,   Mr.  Slidell  of 

the  river,  is  ornamented  with  a  va-  Louisiana,    acquired    international 

riety  of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  in  the  notoriety  in  1861.     See   as  to  the 

midst,  there  is  a  lawn  covered  with  Mason    Family,     Miss     Kowland's 

a  beautiful  verdure."  At  a  later  pe-  Life,  Correspondence,  and  Speeches 

riod   Mason   built    another  house,  of  George  Mason. 


316  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

of  nearly  eighteen  months,  embraced  a  multiplicity 
of  topics.  The  rights  of  non-combatants,  the  effect  of 
paroles,  the  carrying  away  of  slaves,  the  alleged  seduc 
tion  by  one  nation  or  the  other  of  prisoners  in  its  cus 
tody,  were  constant  subjects  of  discussion.  The  send 
ing  to  England  of  some  Irish  soldiers  captured  on  the 
Niagara  River,  whom  it  was  believed  the  British  Gov 
ernment  intended  to  try  upon  charges  of  treason,  led 
to  retaliation  and  counter-retaliation ;  and  the  escape 
of  certain  British  officers  held  as  hostages  at  Worcester, 
Massachusetts,  gave  still  further  occasion  for  endless  ex 
change  of  letters.  In  addition,  there  were  the  daily 
questions  of  detail  —  the  giving  of  a  parole  by  this  offi 
cer  and  the  surrender  of  his  parole  by  that ;  the  status 
of  the  crew  of  the  Essex,  captured  at  Valparaiso  and 
paroled  by  Capt.  Hillyar,  R.  N.,  of  whom  a  certain 
midshipman  Farragut  was  one ;  the  sailing  and  arrival 
of  cartel-ships;  the  verification  of  lists  of  prisoners; 
the  physical  condition  of  the  men  at  the  various  de 
pots  as  reported  by  the  sub-agents:  all  of  which  needed 
incessant  attention.1 

For  a  time  matters  went  forward  smoothly  enough ; 
but  toward  the  autumn  of  1813  the  letters  began  to 
assume  a  more  acrimonious  tone,  each  of  the  corre 
spondents  being  engaged  in  the  fascinating  but  some 
what  futile  pursuit  of  trying  to  put  his  adversary  in  the 
wrong.  Mason,  however,  had  at  least  the  advantage  of 
physical  force  on  his  side,  and  he  sought  to  cut  the  cor 
respondence  short  by  bringing  Barclay  to  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Washington.  An  order  was  issued  designating 
Bladensburg  as  his  place  of  residence.  Barclay  pro 
tested  in  vain.  He  was  assured  that  "  Bladensburg  is 

!The  correspondence  was,  in  part,  laid  before  Congress,  and  will  be  found 
in  Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  630-684,  728-730. 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  317 

a  comfortable  village,  inhabited  by  a  respectable  people, 
among  whom  are  several  opulent  and  genteel  Families, 
supplied  by  a  plentiful  adjacent  country,  and  affording 
for  occupancy  not  only  decent,  but  convenient  and  re 
spectable  houses,"  and  the  order  to  proceed  thither  was 
repeated.  Barclay  despatched  to  London  his  resignation 
as  agent  for  prisoners,  to  take  effect  on  the  arrival  of 
his  successor,  and  about  February  22,  1814,  he  re 
luctantly  set  out  over  the  all  but  impassable  roads  of 
retreating  winter  for  the  "comfortable  village"  which 
was  to  be  his  residence. 

His  residence  at  Bladensburg  was  brought  to  a  sud 
den  close  by  causes  over  which  neither  he  nor  the 
American  Government  had  any  control.  On  August 
17  Admiral  Cochrane's  squadron  anchored  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Patuxent,  and  landed  upward  of  4000 
British  troops.  Two  days  later  Mason  wrote  that  a 
"  residence  at  a  place  in  the  interior  more  remote  from 
the  waters  "  was  considered  suitable  under  the  existing 
circumstances,  and  Barclay  was  required  to  remove  at 
once  to  Hagerstown.  On  the  morning  of  August  24 — 
the  day  of  the  battle  of  Bladensburg — Barclay  departed. 

A  week  later  Mason  wrote  again.  The  purport  of  his 
letter  this  time  was  to  inform  Colonel  Barclay  that  the 
American  Government  declined  to  hold  any  further 
correspondence  with  him.  Two  grounds  were  assigned 
for  this  determination.  The  first,  that  Barclay  had  not 
left  Bladensburg  until  the  very  day  of  the  battle ;  the 
second,  that  he  had  attempted  to  communicate  secretly 
with  Admiral  Cochrane.  Barclay's  reply  was  brief. 
He  had  remained  at  Bladensburg  because  he  could  find 
no  vehicle  to  carry  him  away ;  and  though  he  had  given 
Mr.  Edward  Calvert  a  letter  to  Admiral  Cochrane,  it 
was  merely  to  request  him  to  release  two  of  Mr.  Cal- 


318        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

vert's  servants  who  had  been  made  prisoners.  This 
explanation  was  never  disputed,  and  subsequent  events 
showed  that  the  authorities  at  Washington  were  satis 
fied  there  was  no  dishonorable  purpose  in  Barclay's 
conduct.  But  a  natural  irritation  lingered  after  the 
burning  of  Washington,  and  Barclay,  at  his  own  request, 
was  furnished  with  a  passport  to  leave  the  country. 

About  the  middle  of  October,  1814,  he  sailed  from 
New- York  in  the  American  ship  Fingal,  accompanied 
by  his  youngest  son  Anthony,  who  had  come  back  with 
him  from  England.  Barclay  had  intended  taking  with 
him  his  wife  and  his  unmarried  daughter,  Ann ;  but  for 
some  reason  they  were  left  behind. 

The  war  was  nearly  over  when  Barclay  for  the  third 
time  landed  in  England.  For  three  months  the  com 
missioners  of  the  two  belligerent  nations  had  been  sitting 
at  Grhent,  and  by  the  end  of  November  negotiations  had 
so  far  progressed  that  the  sole  remaining  questions  had 
been  reduced  to  two  points — the  fisheries  and  the  pos 
session  of  Moose  Island  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay.  On 
December  24,  1814,  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed. 

Barclay  found  both  his  elder  sons  again  promoted. 
De  Lancey  had  been  appointed  to  the  First  Foot  Guards 
on  July  25.  Thomas  had  been  made  a  post  captain 
on  June  7,  upon  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace 
with  France,  and  had  retired  on  half  pay  September 
30,  1814. 

TO   ME.   HAMILTON. 

No.  4  Clarges  Street,  London, 

21st  November,  1812. 
SIR. 

In  a  conversation  some  days  since  with  Sir  Rupert  George 
of  the  Transport  Board,  he  mentioned  to  me  the  necessity  of 
sending  to  America  an  Agent  for  Prisoners  of  War.  I  in- 


AGENT  FOB  BRITISH  PRISONERS  319 

formed  him  that  if  it  met  with  the  approbation  of  Lord  Cas 
tlereagh,1  1  had  no  objection  to  go  in  that  character,  as  I  was 
at  present  without  any  immediate  consular  employment,  and 
considered  it  probable  under  cloak  of  the  superintendance  of 
British  Prisoners  of  War,  I  might  from  time  to  time  have  it 
in  my  power,  from  the  extensive  acquaintance  which  fourteen 
years  residence  in  the  United  States  had  given  me,  to  furnish 
not  only  His  Majesty's  ministers,  but  the  Governor  General  of 
Canada  and  His  Majesty's  naval  and  military  Commanders  in 
Nova  Scotia  with  early  information. 

I  am  now  called  on  for  my  answer,  or  rather  the  Lords 
Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  without  any  further  commu 
nication  have  ordered  me  to  be  appointed.  I  cannot  however 
think  of  accepting  this  appointment  without  Lord  Castle- 
reagh's  entire  approbation,  and  under  an  assurance  that  it 
shall  not  interfere  with  the  consular  appointment,  I  have  for 
many  years  held  under  His  Majesty. 

Employment  to  me  is  preferable  to  Idleness,  and  I  feel  as 
sured,  that  if  the  War  with  America  is  protracted,  it  will  be  in 
my  power  from  holding  the  proposed  appointment  to  commu 
nicate  to  His  Majesty's  ministers  early  intelligence  of  what 
occurs  in  the  states.  Under  this  impression  permit  me  to  re 
quest,  you  will  be  pleased  to  communicate  the  purport  of  this 
letter  to  Lord  Castlereagh  and  to  add  that  if  it  is  his  pleasure 
I  should  go  to  America  under  the  present  temporary  proposed 
appointment,  that  I  am  ready  to  obey  his  commands  j  if  not 
that  I  will  immediately  decline  the  proposal. 


FROM  MK.  HAMILTON. 

Foreign  Office, 

Nov.  27,  1812. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  did  not  omit  to  lay  before  Lord  Castlereagh  your  letter  of 
the  21st  inst  acquainting  His  Lordship  of  your  nomination  by 

iLord  Castlereagh  became  Foreign  Secretary  on  February  22,  1812,  on 
the  retirement  of  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley. 


320       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  to  reside  as  Agent  for  Prisoners 
of  War  in  the  United  States  of  America  and  requesting  his 
Sanction  to  your  acceptance  of  that  Appointment.  I  have 
the  Satisfaction  to  assure  you  that  Lord  Castlereagh  perfectly 
approves  of  your  Intention  to  accept  it  if  not  objectionable  to 
yourself,  and  that  it  will  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  renewal 
of  your  late  Appointment  under  this  office. 

I  am  &c 

W.  HAMILTON. 


FKOM  THE  TRANSPORT  BOARD. 

Transport  office  11th  December  1812. 
SIR. 

Having  by  our  warrant  under  this  date  appointed  you  to 
be  an  Agent  to  reside  in  the  United  States  of  America  for  the 
relief  of  British  Prisoners  of  War  in  those  States,  and  for 
carrying  on  under  our  direction  a  general  exchange  of  Prison 
ers  upon  such  Principles  as  may  hereafter  be  settled  between 
the  two  Countries,  we  direct  you  upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter 
to  proceed  with  all  convenient  dispatch  to  the  United  States 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  upon  yourself  the  Functions  of  your 
employment  accordingly ;  and  immediately  after  your  arrival 
there  you  are  to  present  yourself  to  Admiral  Sir  John  B.  War 
ren,  or  the  Flag  officer  Commanding  in  Chief,  or  senior  officer 
on  that  Station,  and  to  communicate  to  him  your  warrant  and 
instructions  consulting  with  him  as  to  the  fittest  place  for  you 
to  take  up  your  residence. 

You  will  lose  no  time  in  demanding  of  the  American  Gov 
ernment,  through  the  proper  Channel,  permission  to  visit  all 
the  depots  for  British  Prisoners  of  War  as  often  as  you  may 
judge  necessary,  taking  care  to  inform  the  American  Govern 
ment,  that  whatever  Privileges  and  Indulgences  may  be  al 
lowed  to  you  the  same  will  be  granted  to  Mr  R.  G.  Beasley 
who  is  accredited  here  as  the  American  Agent  for  Prisoners 
of  War. 

You  are  further  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  to  endeavour 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  321 

to  procure  from  such  department  of  the  American  Govern 
ment  as  the  Business  may  immediately  concern  (and  to  trans 
mit  to  us)  a  list  of  all  the  British  Subjects  who  are  detained 
as  Prisoners  of  War  in  the  United  States,  specifying  their 
names,  quality,  time  of  capture,  in  what  Ship  captured,  the 
place  of  their  detention  and  whether  on  parole  or  not  respec 
tively,  as  also  lists  of  all  such,  as  shall  have  been  released  since 
the  commencement  of  the  War. 

For  your  information  and  guidance  we  herewith  transmit 
to  you  Copies  of  the  several  instructions  and  regulations  rela 
tive  to  the  treatment  of  American  Prisoners  of  War  in  Health 
in  this  Country,  and  of  the  allowance  made  to  them,  whether 
in  confinement  or  on  Parole,  and  with  respect  to  sick  Prison 
ers  it  is  only  necessary  to  inform  you,  that  they  are  treated  in 
all  respects  the  same,  as  Seamen  of  His  Majesty s  Navy.  There 
is  no  part  of  the  Treatment  of  American  Prisoners  here,  that 
we  are  not  desirous  to  be  open  to  every  proper  inspection,  and 
the  most  humane  and  generous  means  are  established  for  af 
fording  them  every  reasonable  comfort  that  their  State  of 
Captivity  will  admit  of.  We  therefore  flatter  ourselves  that 
upon  your  application,  the  American  Government  will  issue 
such  orders,  as  may  be  necessary  for  your  having  commu 
nication  with  all  the  British  Prisoners  either  personally,  or 
through  the  medium  of  such  Sub-Agents,  as  you  may  find  it 
necessary  to  appoint,  and  generally  give  you  every  assistance 
in  the  execution  of  the  Service  entrusted  to  your  case. 

You  are  to  report  to  us  as  soon  as  possible,  the  exact  quan 
tities  and  nature  of  the  allowances,  whether  in  provisions,  or 
money,  which  the  British  Prisoners  may  be  entitled  to  from 
the  American  Government,  and  you  are  always  to  be  particu 
larly  attentive  that  those  allowances  be  fully  distributed. — 
You  will  also  take  care  to  inform  yourself,  whether  there  are 
any  British  Prisoners  entitled  from  their  Eank  and  Qualities 
to  the  indulgence  of  Parole,  who  do  not  enjoy  it ;  and  in  the 
event  of  any  case  of  this  kind  or  improper  treatment  of  any 
other  nature  coming  to  your  knowledge,  you  are  to  make  a 
becoming  remonstrance  to  the  proper  department  of  the  Amer 
ican  Government  on  the  Subject. 
21 


322       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

You  are  to  lose  no  time,  in  obtaining  information,  respect 
ing  the  State  of  the  clothing  of  the  Prisoners,  and  to  report 
the  same  to  us,  in  order  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  give  you 
directions  on  the  subject.  In  the  mean  time  we  authorize  you 
to  purchase  on  the  best  terms  in  your  power,  such  articles  as 
any  of  the  Prisoners  may  be  in  absolute  want  of. 

Besides  the  allowances  which  may  be  made  to  the  Prisoners 
by  the  American  Government,  we  authorize  you  to  cause  to  be 
paid  to  them  the  several  allowances  specified  in  the  enclosed 
paper  according  to  their  respective  qualities,  on  account  of 
this  department,  taking  care  that  such  payments  be  made  ac 
cording  to  the  par  of  exchange. 

If  British  Prisoners  carried  into  the  Ports  of  the  United 
States  by  French  cruizers  be  delivered  up  to  your  Sub  Agents, 
and  no  objection  to  their  release  be  made  on  the  part  of  the 
American  Government,  you  are  to  cause  all  Prisoners  of  that 
description  to  be  subsisted  at  the  charge  of  this  department 
from  the  time  of  their  being  so  delivered  up,  and  we  author 
ize  you  to  pay  to  such  Prisoners  the  daily  allowances  specified 
in  the  above  mentioned  Paper  according  to  their  respective 
Ranks. 

With  respect  to  the  Hire  of  Vessels  for  the  removal  of  Pris 
oners  of  War  from  the  United  States,  you  are  to  consult  the 
Admiral  if  there  be  time ;  and  also  to  apply  to  the  Boards  Agents 
at  Halifax  and  Bermuda  in  case  they  should  have  any  Vessels 
at  their  disposal,  transmitting  Lists  &c  &c  to  those  Agents  of 
the  Prisoners  embarked ;  and  it  is  expected  you  will  pay  every 
attention  in  your  power  to  the  most  strict  Economy  in  this,  as 
well  as  every  other  matter  respecting  which  it  is  impossible  to 
give  you  any  definite  instructions.  We  think  it  proper  how 
ever  to  observe  to  you,  that  all  Vessels  ought  to  be  hired  at  a 
certain  rate  per  man  or  per  Ton  for  the  Voyage  or  Run  ;  and 
not  for  time,  and  that  no  Prisoners  be  sent  to  Europe  without 
the  order  of  the  Commander  in  Chief  or  Flag  officer,  but  be 
conveyed  to  Halifax,  Bermuda,  and  the  West  India  Islands, 
including  the  Bahamas.  The  proportion  of  the  Prisoners  to 
the  Tonnage  of  a  cartel  Vessel,  must  depend  upon  the  length 
of  the  Voyage,  and  the  particular  construction  of  the  Vessel, 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  323 

but  between  this  Country  and  France,  it  is  usual  to  embark 
not  less  than  three  men  for  every  two  Tons.  The  daily  ra 
tion  which  you  are  to  order  for  British  Prisoners  while  on 
their  voyage  from  the  United  States  is  to  be,  one  pound  of 
Bread,  one  pound  of  Beef  (or  two-thirds  of  a  pound  of  Pork) 
and  one  quarter  of  a  pint  of  Rum  for  all  Prisoners  without 
distinction,  and  no  more. — The  Passports  to  be  given  to  such 
Vessels  must  of  course  be  from  the  American  Government, 
and  all  Vessels  conveying  American  Prisoners  from  hence 
will  be  furnished  with  Passports  from  us  in  the  annexed  form, 
nevertheless  each  Vessel  having  British  Prisoners  on  Board, 
should  be  furnished  with  a  certificate  from  you,  or  one  of  your 
Sub  Agents,  stating  the  Service  on  which  she  is  employed, 
and  in  order  to  prevent  misconceptions  it  will  be  proper  for 
you  to  communicate  with  the  American  Government  on  the 
subject  of  such  Instructions.  Vessels  hired  for  the  convey 
ance  of  Prisoners  must  always  be  supplied  with  a  proper 
quantity  of  Water  at  the  expense  of  the  owner,  and  it  will  be 
adviseable  to  agree  with  the  owners  of  such  Vessels  at  a  cer 
tain  rate  per  day  for  the  Prisoners  victualling. 

Your  sub  Agents  will  be  allowed  after  the  rate  of  five  Shil 
lings  per  day  for  every  day  on  which  any  British  Prisoners 
are  under  their  care. 

We  enclose  for  your  further  information  a  copy  of  a  letter 
from  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  by  which  you 
will  perceive  that  no  British  released  Seamen,  not  belonging 
to  His  Majesty s  Navy  are  to  be  impressed  until  48  Hours 
shall  have  expired  after  their  arrival  at  a  British  Port,  which 
you  are  to  cause  to  be  made  known  to  all  British  Seamen  who 
may  embark  on  board  Cartels. 

The  printed  copies  of  instructions  to  Agents  for  Prisoners 
of  War  are  sent  to  you  for  your  information  respecting  the 
manner  in  which  Prisoners  of  War  are  treated  by  us,  but  you 
must  be  well  aware  that  no  specific  Instructions  to  Agents 
of  British  Prisoners  in  Enemies  Countries  can  be  prepared  in 
a  similar  manner,  because  the  nature  and  details  of  Instruc 
tions  in  such  cases  must  depend  entirely  upon  the  way  in 
which  such  Prisoners  are  treated  by  the  Government  of  the 


324        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Country  in  which  they  are  detained.  For  this  reason  when 
any  particular  point  occurs  to  you  upon  which  you  may  wish 
to  have  our  directions,  it  is  proper  that  you  should  communi 
cate  it  to  us  from  time  to  time  with  as  little  delay  as  possible, 
and  in  the  mean  time  to  procure  and  follow  the  directions  of 
the  Admiral  or  Flag  officer,  with  whom  you  are  also  generally 
to  communicate  respecting  the  duties  which  you  are  entrusted 
to  perform  under  this  department. 

We  enclose  for  your  information  a  copy  of  an  order  from 
the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Ad 
miralty  relative  to  a  proposed  Cartel  for  the  exchange  of  Pris 
oners  of  War  between  this  Country  and  the  United  States  of 
America,  together  with  a  project  for  such  Cartel  which  we 
have  also  transmitted  to  Admiral  The  Right  Honorable  Sir 
John  Borlase  Warren  and  requested  that  he  would  through 
you,  or  any  other  Channel  make  the  necessary  communication 
on  the  Subject  to  the  American  Government. 

You  are  to  transmit  to  us  quarterly  accounts  of  your  ex 
penses  and  to  draw  upon  us  from  time  to  time  for  such  Sums 
as  you  may  require  for  carrying  on  the  service  entrusted  to 
you  —  For  your  further  information  we  annex  a  list  of  our 
several  Agents  in  the  West  Indies  and  America 

We  are 
Sir 

your  most  humble  Servants 
J.  BOWEN 
JNO.  HARNESS 
J.  BOOTHBY 


FBOM  THE  TRANSPORT  BOARD. 

(Secret.) 

Transport  Office,— 

5th  January,  1813. 
SIR, 

In  pursuance  of  Instructions  from  the  Right  Honorable 
the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty,  we  direct  you  to 


AGENT   FOR   BRITISH  PRISONERS  325 

proceed  to  Portsmouth,  so  as  to  be  there  before  the  7th  in 
stant,  waiting  on  Admiral  Sir  Richard  Bickerton  immediately 
on  your  Arrival,  who  has  Orders  to  provide  you  with  a  Pas 
sage  to  your  Destination ;  and  you  are,  for  very  particular 
Reasons,  to  avoid,  if  possible,  making  either  your  Name,  or 
Destination,  known  to  any  other  Person  than  the  Admiral. 

We  are,  &c. 

J.  BOWEN 
JNO.  HARNESS 
W.  BOOTHBY. 


TO   THE   TRANSPORT   BOAKD. 

Washington  City  15th  April  1813. 
SIRS. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  arrived  at  New  York 
on  the  first  of  this  month  from  Bermuda,  and  at  this  place  on 
the  5th  Instant,  I  immediately  waited  on  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  delivered  to  him  my  warrant  and  Instructions  from  you 
to  be  laid  before  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  my  being  accredited  as  His  Majesty's  Agent  for  the  relief 
of  British  Prisoners  of  War  and  for  carrying  on  under  your 
directions  a  general  exchange  of  Prisoners. 

The  President  has  been  pleased  to  receive  me  in  that 
character,  and  has  since  appointed  General  John  Mason  of 
George  Town  in  Columbia  Commissary  General  of  Prison 
ers  of  War  throughout  the  United  States  of  America ;  with 
whom  I  am  directed  to  confer  on  all  points  relating  to  my 
mission. 

General  Mason  and  myself  have  had  three  conferences  and 
have  made  some  progress  in  the  arrangement  of  a  system  for 
the  future  subsistence  and  clothing  of  Prisoners,  and  their 
accommodations.  Preparations  have  also  commenced  on 
the  part  of  this  government  to  draw  together  the  British 
Prisoners  now  in  these  States,  in  order  to  their  being  sent  as 

speedily  as  possible  to  Bermuda   and  the  West  Indies,  and 
21* 


326  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  cartels  which  convey  them  are  to  bring  back  a  corre 
sponding  number  of  Americans.  The  President  not  having 
ratified  the  provisional  agreement  for  the  exchange  of 
Prisoners  made  at  Halifax  in  Nova  Scotia  on  the  28th  of 
November  last;  some  small  alterations  have  been  proposed 
by  him,  which  in  my  opinion  are  not  of  moment  to  oppose, 
and  which  I  shall,  with  an  amendment  on  the  part  of  his 
Majesty  conditionally  agree  to,  subject  to  your  and  Sir 
John  Borlase  Warren's  ratification.  These  when  prepared 
shall  be  forwarded. 

I  have  reason  to  believe,  from  the  assurances  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  and  General  Mason,  that  this  Government  is 
desirous  that  every  facility  shall  be  given  to  the  exchange  of 
Prisoners  of  War,  and  to  their  comfort  while  Prisoners. 

I  enclose  for  your  information  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed 
to  General  Mason  on  the  subject  of  British  Prisoners  being 
enticed  to  enter  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  to  which 
I  have  not  yet  received  an  answer.  I  have  however  his  and 
the  Secretary  of  States  verbal  assurances,  that  if  any  such 
irregularities  have  occurred  at  the  commencement  of  the  War 
they  were  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Government  and  that 
they  shall  not  hereafter  be  permitted. 

Sir  John  B.  Warren  having  coincided  in  opinion  with  me 
that  New  York,  being  a  central  position,  was  best  adapted  for 
my  residence,  I  have  obtained  the  President's  leave  to  reside 
there  for  the  present. 

I  learn  with  regret  that  a  difference  in  opinion  exists  be 
tween  Lieut.  General  Sir  George  Prevost,  Governor  General 
and  commanding  His  Majesty's  Forces  in  the  Canadas,  and 
this  Government  on  the  Subject  of  Exchanges  made  last  Au 
tumn.  A  case  on  the  part  of  these  States  is  now  preparing 
for  me,  which  I  shall  transmit  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  and  re 
quest  his  answer.  Of  both  these  I  shall  avail  myself  of  the 
earliest  conveyance  to  forward  you  copies,  with  my  remarks 
thereon,  to  enable  you  to  more  readily  to  give  me  your  orders 
on  the  Subject. 

All  letters  coming  to  or  going  from  this  country  are  opened 
and  read  by  persons  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  when 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  327 

considered  of  importance  transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
at  this  place. 


TO   SIR  JOHN  BORLASE  WARREN. 
(Private  and  confidential.) 

Washington  14th  April  1813. 
DEAR  SIR. 

I  took  occasion  to  observe  to  Mr.  Monroe  my  surprise  that 
this  Government  had  not  acceded  to  the  proposal  of  Rear  Ad 
miral  Cockburn,  to  receive  from  him  American  Prisoners  and 
return  British  by  the  same  conveyances.  In  reply  Mr.  Monroe 
did  not  acknowledge  the  fact,  but  made  this  remark,  that  if 
anything  unpleasant  or  apparently  unreasonable  had  occurred, 
it  was  wholly  to  be  attributed  to  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Baker  who 
had  been  left  here,  as  pro  ternpore  Agent  for  Prisoners  of  War 
by  Mr.  Foster.  That  he  had  given  great  offense,  and  would 
have  been  indicted,  had  not  the  President  interfered,  who  was 
averse  to  such  strong  measures  against  a  Gentleman,  who  had 
lately  held  the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  Legation,  that  in 
consequence  of  Mr.  Baker's  conduct  he  had  for  some  time  past 
refused  all  communication  with  him.  I  discovered  a  principle 
cause  of  complaint  against  him  was  his  having  after  his  Func 
tions  as  Secretary  of  Legation  ceased,  and  while  he  acted 
merely  as  Agent  for  Prisoners  of  War,  delivered  a  number  of 
Licenses  (to  protect  Cargoes)  left  with  him  by  Mr.  Foster. 
Mr.  Monroe  expressed  his  satisfaction  on  my  arrival,  and 
added  that  I  should  find  every  disposition  on  the  part  of  this 
Government  to  carry  on  exchanges  on  principles  of  reciprocity 
and  liberality.  In  the  amendments  to  the  provisional  agree 
ment  for  the  exchange  of  Prisoners,  it  will  be  proposed  that  Ber 
muda  is  made  a  depot  j  or  possibly  that  it  should  be  substi 
tuted  in  the  place  of  Bridge  Town  Barbadoes.  To  the  former, 
I  think  you  will  have  no  objection.  I  notice  in  the  American 
papers  that  the  Masters  and  Crews  of  several  vessels  captured 
by  the  Brig  Atalanta  have  been  sent  into  these  States  and, 
from  the  manner  in  which  it  is  stated  apprehend  proper  re- 


328        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ceipts  have  not  been  obtained.  It  is  therefore  advisable  until 
I  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  not  to  send  them  on  shore 
in  this  irregular  manner.  I  will  thank  you  to  direct  your  Sec 
retary  to  order  Lieut.  Miller  of  Halifax  to  forward  to  me  cor 
rect  returns  of  all  American  Prisoners  sent  from  Halifax,  and 
copies  of  the  receipts  taken  when  delivered  —  also  returns  of 
all  British  Prisoners  received  from  these  states  in  exchange. 
I  have  reason  to  believe  this  Government  intend  to  put  a  stop 
to  the  present  communications  by  Packets,  and  I  informed 
Mr.  Monroe,  that  I  suspected  that  mode  of  communication  was 
far  from  agreeable  to  you. 


TO   SIK   THOMAS   HARDY.1 

Washington  21  April  1813. 
SIR. 

Your  letter  of  the  llth  of  this  month  dated  off  Block  Island, 
I  received  last  evening.  I  arrived  here  from  Bermuda  on  the 
6th  Instant  and  was  much  surprised  to  learn  from  Mr.  Monroe 
the  American  Secretary  of  State  that  the  provisional  agree 
ment  executed  in  November  last  at  Halifax,  had  not  been  rati 
fied  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  measures  taken 
by  this  Government,  with  Mr.  Baker,  to  amend  the  agreement 
and  to  send  it  to  Admiral  Sir  John  Warren  for  his  approval. 
On  expressing  my  surprise  Mr.  Monroe  informed  me,  the  delay 
had  been  occasioned  by  the  improper  Conduct  of  Mr.  Baker, 
and  with  whom  he  had  declined  having  further  communica 
tions.  I  did  not  think  proper  to  enter  on  the  merits  of  the 
dispute. 

This  Government  received  me  with  politeness  and  have  as 
sured  me  of  every  disposition  on  their  part  to  facilitate  a  gen 
eral  exchange,  and  to  continue  exchanges  on  liberal  and  hu 
mane  principles.  General  John  Mason  has  been  appointed 
Commissary  General  of  Prisoners  of  War,  and  I  am  directed 

1  Nelson's  Captain  Hardy,  the  commander  of  the  Victory  at  Trafalgar,  and 
who  was  now  in  command  of  the  squadron  blockading  New  London. 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  329 

to  confer  with  him  on  all  matters  relating  to  my  mission  to 
these  States. 

One  of  our  first  objects  has  been  to  amend  the  provisional 
Agreement,  so  as  to  meet  the  convenience  of  the  President, 
and  of  the  Admiral  and  final  ratification  on  the  part  of  His 
Majesty.  It  includes  Land  Forces.  This  day  it  is  to  be  laid 
before  the  President.  Until  he  ratifies  it,  I  cannot  give  you 
any  directions  on  the  subject  of  receipts  for  Prisoners  whom 
you  may  land  in  the  United  States.  In  the  meantime  I  beg 
leave  to  recommend  your  continuing  the  mode  you  have  al 
ready  used,  and  obtain  receipts  from  the  Chief  Justice  or  some 
other  Magistrate  of  Respectability.  I  doubt  however  the  pro 
priety  of  making  use  of  this  mode  in  the  event  of  your  captur 
ing  any  American  Ship  or  Vessel  of  War  j  in  such  a  case  a 
more  formal  exchange  and  delivery  would  be  necessary.  In 
addition  to  my  communicating  with  the  Admiral,  I  shall  take 
the  earliest  means  to  transmit  to  you  the  Agreement  as 
amended. 


TO   SIR  JOHN  BOBLASE  WAKEEN. 

George  Town  26th  April  1813. 
SIR. 

In  my  despatch  of  the  14th  current  I  stated  to  you  that  the 
provisional  Agreement  for  the  exchange  of  Prisoners  entered 
into  at  Halifax  by  Mr.  Uniacke  and  Lieut.  Miller  on  the  part 
of  his  Majesty  and  Mr.  Michell  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  November  last  had  not  met  the  approba 
tion  of  the  President,  and  that  he  had  directed  General  John 
Mason  the  American  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners  to  con 
fer  with  me  on  the  subject  of  amending  the  provisional  agree 
ment  so  as  to  meet  the  wishes  of  both  parties. 

General  Mason  and  myself  have  therefore  altered  several  of 
the  Articles  and  added  two  to  the  original  number.  They 
have  been  laid  before  the  President  who  is  ready  to  ratify 
them  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in  order  that  they  may 


330        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

be  sent  to  England  for  the  necessary  ratification  on  the  part  of 
His  Majesty.  I  informed  this  Government,  that  it  was  my 
duty  prior  to  ratification  to  submit  the  agreement  as  amended 
to  your  consideration.  I  now  enclose  it  and  hope  it  will  meet 
your  approbation :  but  should  this  not  be  the  case,  I  will  thank 
you  to  be  distinct  and  full  on  the  Subject  to  which  you  may 
dissent,  or  require  an  amendment,  so  that  I  may  fully  compre 
hend  your  wishes. 

As  this  agreement  comprehends  Prisoners  taken  on  Land 
and  Sea  and  extends  to  all  His  Majesty's  Dominions,  your  sig 
nature  of  approval  to  it  becomes  unnecessary,  perhaps  im 
proper  because  in  that  case  it  must  also  be  sent  not  only  to  Lt. 
General  Sir  George  Prevost  at  Quebec,  but  to  all  other  Com 
manders  in  Chief.  I  therefore  submit  it  to  you  for  your  ap 
proval,  and  when  amended  agreeably  to  what  may  comport 
with  your  Ideas,  the  instrument  will  be  signed  by  General 
Mason  and  myself  and  ratified  by  the  President,  after  which  I 
will  transmit  it  to  the  Commissioners  for  Transport  and  Pris 
oners  of  War  to  be  by  them  laid  before  His  Royal  Highness 
The  Prince  Regent  for  his  Royal  Pleasure  thereon. 


TO   THE   TKANSPOKT   BOAKD. 

Harlaem  near  New  York 

20th  May  1813. 
SIRS, 

Referring  you  to  my  letter  of  the  15th  of  April  of  which  a 
duplicate  is  enclosed  I  have  the  Honor  to  enclose  to  you  the 
Agreement  entered  into  between  John  Mason  Esqr.  Commis 
sary  General  of  Prisoners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
and  myself  as  His  Majesty's  Agent  for  Prisoners  of  War.  I 
forward  it  for  your  consideration  and  to  be  laid  before  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty  and  the  other  proper  departments  of 
State. 

As  this  Agreement  is  of  a  nature  not  of  sufficient  magnitude 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  331 

to  require  the  ratification  of  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince 
Regent  it  was  proposed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
that  it  should  be  ratified  upon  the  part  of  the  United  States 
by  the  American  Secretary  of  State  and  on  the  part  of  His  Ma 
jesty  by  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty.  A  copy  of  this  agree 
ment  with  the  ratification  by  Mr.  Munroe  the  American  Sec 
retary  of  State  will  be  forwarded  by  him  to  their  Lordships, 
and  if  no  objection  lays  to  the  agreement  their  Lordships  will 
be  pleased  to  transmit  a  copy  ratified  by  them  to  this  Govern 
ment.  It  may  however  be  prudent  to  delay  the  ratification 
until  Sir  George  Prevost  communicates  to  his  Secretary  of 
State  his  opinion,  to  whom  I  send  a  copy,  and  I  have  sub 
mitted  it  to  Admiral  Sir  John  Warren  who  approves  thereof. 

I  am  sending  the  British  Prisoners  from  hence  as  fast  as  the 
cartels  arrive;  and  the  instant  I  am  in  possession  of  all  the 
Lists  and  receipts  of  American  Prisoners  delivered  or  sent  to 
America,  I  shall  proceed  to  a  general  exchange. 

On  my  arrival  here  on  the  first  of  April,  I  was  informed  that 
a  number  of  respectable  British  Subjects,  principally  mer 
chants,  whose  affairs  at  the  declaration  of  war  by  these  states 
compelled  them  to  remain  here,  and  who  continued  in  America 
after  the  six  months  leave  given  them  by  these  States  for  their 
departure,  had  been  ordered  by  this  Government  to  remove 
from  the  Sea  Port  Towns,  their  former  residences  and  reside 
on  parole  forty  miles  from  Tide  Water  in  the  interior  of  the 
Country.  Many  of  them  were  desirous  to  return  to  His  Ma 
jesty's  Dominions  and  all  the  others  to  their  former  abodes. 
With  respect  to  the  latter  I  did  not  conceive  myself  entitled 
during  the  War  to  interfere,  but  with  regard  to  the  former,  I 
applied  to  the  American  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners, 
and  required  their  delivery  to  me  as  Non-Combatants  and  for 
two  Flags  of  Truce  to  carry  them  from  these  States.  During 
the  correspondence  on  this  subject  on  an  application  by  the 
American  Commissary  to  the  President  for  instructions,  he  di 
rected  him  to  cease  any  further  communications  with  me  on 
this  subject  and  to  inform  me,  he  was  of  opinion  my  appoint 
ment  did  not  extend  to  this  description  of  Persons :  but  that 
if  I  had  anything  to  communicate  on  the  subject,  I  must  ad- 


332        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

dress  myself  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  would  return  me 
an  answer.  I  therefore  wrote  him  a  letter  whereof  the  en 
closed  document  is  a  copy :  to  which  I  received  his  answer  a 
copy  whereof  is  also  enclosed. 

You  will  perceive  the  Secretary  of  States  refuses  to  consider 
them  Prisoners  of  War,  and  that  he  hints  at  detaining  them  as 
fit  Subjects  to  be  hereafter  used  for  retaliatory  measures, 
should  this  Government  think  proper  to  resort  to  them  ;  and 
that  he  denies  my  authority  to  interfere.  On  reverting  to 
your  warrant  of  my  appointment,  I  think  you  will  agree  with 
me,  that  words  cannot  be  more  appropriate  to  express  my  su- 
perintendance  and  care  of  these  Gentlemen  :  but  you  will  no 
tice  that  in  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  I  do  not  press 
this  point,  but  take  a  stronger  and  more  extensive  ground,  to 
wit  that  every  man  deprived  of  his  Liberty  was  a  Prisoner. — 
My  right  to  act  in  this  instance  being  denied  by  this  Govern 
ment,  I  have  returned  Mr.  Monroe,  a  general  answer,  inform 
ing  him  I  had  submitted  the  correspondence  to  my  Government 
for  their  consideration  and  directions,  I  shall  therefore  wait 
your  orders.  It  remains  with  His  Majesty's  Government 
whether  they  will  not  treat  the  Citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  in  the  united  Kingdoms  in  a  similar  manner,  and  hold 
them  Prisoners,  to  respond  the  treatment  the  British  Subjects 
now  here  may  receive  from  the  United  States. 

The  President  has  thought  proper  for  the  present  not  to  al 
low  me  to  come  within  less  than  two  miles  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  it  being  considered  a  military  Post.  I  am  not  otherwise 
restricted.  This  limitation  will  not  be  attended  with  incon 
venience. 

I  have  made  an  exchange  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
American  Sloop  Viper  for  the  officers  and  men  of  His  Majes 
ty's  late  Sloop  Peacock,  and  a  few  officers  and  men  of  other 
British  Ships  to  make  the  exchange  equal,  but  as  the  Peacock's 
men  are  not  yet  embarked,  and  causualties  may  occur,  I  do 
not  send  you  the  exchange  by  the  present  conveyance,  as 
alterations  may  be  necessary,  which  is  provided  for  in  the 
Receipts. 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  333 

TO   THE   TRANSPORT   BOARD. 

Harlem,  New  York,  5th  June  1813. 
SIRS. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  you  that  I  received  from  this 
Government  repeated  assurances  that  it  will  do  all  in  its  power, 
to  prevent  British  Prisoners  of  War  being  received  into  the 
American  Naval  or  Land  Service.  These  declarations  I  have 
reasons  to  believe  are  sincere.  I  lament  however  to  add,  that 
the  measures  hitherto  adopted  have  proved  ineffectual  j  and 
that  His  Majesty's  Subjects,  Prisoners,  have  since  my  arrival 
in  these  states,  been  taken  into  the  American  service :  and 
that  in  the  case  of  some  men  of  His  Majesty's  late  Sloop  Pea 
cock,  I  applied  to  Commodore  Decatur  but  he  did  not  think 
proper  to  restore  them  at  my  request,  and  although  he  did  not 
defend  the  practice  of  receiving  British  Prisoners  of  War  into 
the  American  Service  in  express  terms  :  he  did  it  equivocally 
by  stating  that  similar  conduct  had  been  used  towards  Ameri 
can  Prisoners  by  the  officers  of  His  Majesty's  Ship  Africa. 

An  unpleasant  occurence  has  taken  place  with  respect  to  an 
arrangement  between  General  Mason  and  myself  with  the  con 
currence  of  Admiral  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren.  The  American 
Government  had  purchased  the  Brig  Analostan  as  a  National 
Cartel,  laying  at  Washington,  subsequent  to  the  blockade  of 
the  Chesepeak ;  and  was  desirous  to  send  this  Cartel  to  Ja 
maica  for  American  Prisoners,  reported  to  be  in  a  sickly  state. 
I  communicated  this  to  Sir  John  B.  Warren  and  requested  his 
consent  that  the  Cartel  might  leave  the  blockaded  waters  for 
the  above  purpose.  In  reply  the  Admiral  informed  me  he 
would  consent  on  Condition  that  this  Government  delivered 
on  board  one  of  His  Majesty's  ships  in  Lynnhaven  Bay  all  the 
British  Prisoners  at  Norfolk  and  in  its  vicinity,  and  he  added 
that  on  this  being  agreed  to  upon  the  part  of  the  United  States 
he  would  instantly  deliver  from  on  board  the  Ships  up  the 
Chesepeak  near  300  American  Prisoners,  on  their  parole.  This 
was  assented  to  on  the  part  of  this  Government,  and  there  is 
no  disagreement  between  General  Mason  and  myself  on  the 
Terms. 


334        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

Sir  John  Warren  according  to  promise  delivered  296  Ameri 
can  Prisoners  at  Annapolis  and  received  the  usual  receipts 
which  he  transmitted  to  me. 

I  was  apprehensive  that  notwithstanding  General  Mason  in 
tended  to  execute  the  agreement  with  good  faith,  still  that 
from  want  of  energy  in  the  Government,  and  from  many  other 
causes,  the  whole  of  the  British  Prisoners  would  not  be  sent 
by  the  American  Cartel  on  board  His  Majesty's  Ships  of  War 
in  Lynnhaven  Bay.  As  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren  was  at  that 
time  some  hundred  miles  from  thence,  I  considered  it  my  duty 
to  inform  the  officer  commanding  H.  M.  Ships  in  Lynnhaven 
Bay  to  whom  the  British  Prisoners  were  to  be  delivered,  of 
the  round  number  he  was  to  receive  and  added,  that  I  sub 
mitted  to  his  better  Judgement,  whether  in  the  event  of  a 
defalcation  in  the  number  delivered,  it  would  not  be  prudent 
to  detain  the  Cartel.  It  appears  that  little  more  than  3/5  of 
the  British  Prisoners  were  delivered,  and  no  reasons  assigned 
for  not  delivering  the  remainder,  the  Cartel  has  in  consequence 
been  detained. 

Until  I  can  induce  this  Government  to  compel  more  atten 
tion  to  its  orders  and  business  gets  into  a  regular  Train,  I  beg 
leave  to  recommend,  that  American  Prisoners  may  not  be  sent 
to  these  States  until  exchanged.  There  are  other  strong  rea 
sons  for  adopting  this  rule.  I  wish  you  would  write  to  the 
several  agents  abroad  to  this  effect,  and  direct  them  not  to 
send  Prisoners,  unless  ordered  by  your  Board,  or  by  Admiral 
Sir  John  Warren,  or  requested  by  myself. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  an  answer  to  my  letter  of  the 
12th  of  April  addressed  to  the  American  Commissary  of  Pris 
oners  on  the  various  points  contained  in  your  instructions  to 
me,  and  on  which  I  can  only  procure  the  necessary  information 
from  him.  I  have  repeatedly  reminded  him  and  requested  his 
answer  not  only  to  that,  but  to  most  of  my  other  Letters  to 
him.  General  Mason  holds  several  other  public  appointments, 
which  probably  occasions  these  delays.  In  the  agreement 
which  accompanies  this  you  will  observe  the  allowance  of  food 
or  money  per  day  to  each  Prisoner.  The  British  Prisoners 
have  been  liberally  fed  hitherto  by  the  United  States,  and  the 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  335 

humane  treatment  of  the  Marshalls  in  each  State  towards 
them  is  universally  acknowledged. 


TO    THE  TRANSPORT  BOARD. 

New  York  22nd  June  1813. 
SIRS. 

After  repeated  applications  to  the  American  Commissary 
General  of  Prisoners,  I  have  received  his  answer  to  my  letter 
of  the  12th  of  April  respecting  certain  points  on  which  by 
your  instructions  of  the  1st  of  December  last  I  was  directed  to 
request  information  from  this  Government  and  to  report  to 
you. 

You  will  perceive  that  the  President  has  not  thought  proper 
to  permit  me  to  visit  all  the  American  Stations  and  Depots 
as  often  as  I  judge  necessary ;  on  the  contrary  I  am  only  to 
visit  them  on  special  occasions,  having  previously  assigned  my 
reasons  and  obtained  his  permission.  Nor  are  the  Sub-Agents, 
from  the  tenor  of  General  Mason's  letter,  to  have  leave  to  visit 
any  other  Station  or  Depot  except  the  one  at  or  near  which 
each  of  them  respectively  resides.  I  have  noticed  this  in  my 
reply  of  the  20th  current  to  General  Mason  a  copy  whereof  is 
also  enclosed.  His  answer  when  received  shall  be  transmitted 
to  you. 

It  is  for  you  Sirs  to  determine  whether  it  is  necessary  to  re 
strict  in  a  similar  manner  the  American  Agents  in  England 
and  other  parts  of  His  Majesty's  Dominions.  Distrust  and 
jealousy  mark  the  conduct  of  the  members  of  the  present 
American  Administration.  This  is  not  without  some  reason. 
It  is  well  known  that  from  Pennsylvania  North  all  the  Gentle 
men  of  respectability  and  property  are  opposed  to  them  and  to 
their  measures,  and  that  in  every  State,  South  of  the  Delaware 
there  are  many  characters  of  equal  property  and  respectability 
who  entertain  the  same  sentiments.  They  are  therefore  un 
willing  that  His  Majesty's  Subjects,  myself  and  the  sub-agents, 
in  particular,  should  have  an  opportunity  of  communicating 
with  Gentlemen  so  essentially  differing  in  Sentiment  with 


336  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

them.  In  addition  to  which  they  are  apprehensive  a  more 
liberal  indulgence  to  British  Agents  would  give  offence  to 
their  Friends  and  Supporters. 


TO  LOED   CASTLEEEAGH.1 

(Private.) 

New  York, 

Sept.  30,  1813. 
MY  LORD, 

The  continued  success  of  the  American  Ships  of  War  in  ac 
tions  with  .those  of  His  Majesty,  added  to  the  inequality  in  the 
numbers  killed  and  wounded  on  board  the  American  if  we 
compare  with  them  the  numbers  lost  on  board  the  British 
ships,  and  the  generally  trivial  injury  to  the  bodies  and  rigging 
of  the  former,  contrasted  with  the  damage  received  by  the  lat 
ter,  are  events  respecting  which  your  Lordship  will  natu 
rally  be  desirous  of  a  solution.  A  residence  of  14  years  in  the 
United  States  has  afforded  me  an  opportunity  for  information 
and  I  hope  your  Lordship  will  not  consider  it  impertinent  to 
offer  you  my  sentiments  on  so  important  a  subject. 

I  shall  divide  it  under  three  heads.  The  ships,  officers  and 
men,  and  discipline.  The  American  ships  of  War  are  not  only 
much  larger  than  those  of  His  Majesty  of  the  same  class,  but 
the  materials  contain  more  cubic  feet  and  inches,  hence  they 
are  less  liable  to  injury  from  shot,  and  impenetrable  to  grape : 
When  therefore  ships  of  the  same  class  come  in  contact,  the 
American  has  the  advantage. 

In  sailing  if  there  is  a  difference,  it  is  in  favour  of  the  Amer 
ican  ships.  They  are  brave  and  aspiring,  able  seamen,  and 
manoeuvre  a  few  ships  admirably.  With  respect  to  the  War 
rant  and  Petty  officers  and  men  on  board  the  ships  of  the  re 
spective  nations,  the  superiority  is  greatly  in  favour  of  the 
United  States. 

In  the  American  Navy  at  least  one  half  are  British  Seamen. 
The  remainder  are  subjects  of  Sweden,  Denmark,  Prussia,  &c., 

1  This  letter  was  sent  in  cipher. 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  337 

&c.,  and  a  few  Americans.  From  the  great  influx  of  seamen, 
the  commanders  of  American  Ships  of  War  have  had  it  in  their 
power  to  select  young  well-made  prime  seamen.  Those  who 
are  subjects  of  His  Majesty  fight  with  desperation,  most  of 
them  being  deserters.  Thus  manned  the  American  officer  has 
an  evident  superiority  over  the  British  Commander,  whose 
crew  are  the  reverse  of  select,  and  by  far  the  greater  propor 
tion  not  able  seamen.  It  is  a  lamentable  truth  that  our  sea 
men  are  tired  and  dissatisfied  with  their  success,  and  long 
confinement  on  board  ship  in  consequence  of  20  years'  war, 
and  I  fear  capture  by  the  Americans  is  not  disagreeable  to 
many  of  them. 

I  forbear  touching  on  the  present  discipline  of  H.  M.  Navy. 
That  it  is  not  what  it  was,  I  appeal  to  every  officer  of  experi 
ence.  The  mutiny  in  the  Fleet  and  other  causes  may  have 
rendered  some  relaxation  necessary  :  whether  it  has  not  been 
carried  too  far  merits  enquiry. 

The  discipline  which  formerly  prevailed  in  our  Navy  is  now 
practised  in  the  American  service  on  British  seamen  with 
good  effect. 

The  seamen  in  the  American  service  are  practised  for 
hours  at  the  great  guns,  small  arms,  &  in  sham  boarding,  and 
as  the  complement  of  men  is  J  more  than  in  our  service,  an 
additional  number  of  men  are  appointed  to  serve  as  marines 
in  the  tops :  also  there  are  howitzers  with  men  appointed  to 
them.  From  these,  with  the  musketry  in  the  tops,  and  the 
quarter-deck  well  manned  with  marines,  a  destructive  fire  is 
kept  up  during  an  action.  From  the  before  remarks,  your 
Lordship  will  perceive  that  in  every  particular  officers  ex- 
cepted,  the  American  ship  has  the  advantage  over  the  British. 
It  is  an  abuse  of  words  to  call  the  crews  of  the  U.  S.  Ships 
American.  They  are  British  crews  commanded  by  American 
officers. 

The  complement  of  men  on  board  our  largest  frigates  does 
not  exceed  350,  while  the  American  frigates  carry  500  ;  of 
these,  250  are  superlatively  able  and  strong  British  Seamen. 
I  sincerely  believe  the  250  British  on  Board  an  American  ship 
are  an  equal  to  350  of  the  men  who  ordinarily  compose  our 


338       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ship's  company.  It  follows  that  with  the  addition  of  250  men 
on  board  the  American  ship,  many  of  whom  are  equal  to  the 
British,  victory  must  attend  the  former. 

I  have  omitted  to  inform  your  Lordship  that  the  guns  on 
board  the  American  ships  are  elevated  or  depressed  by  a  scale 
on  the  screw  and  on  the  coign.  When  therefore  the  proper 
elevation  is  ascertained,  in  consequence  of  the  shot  from  any 
particular  gun  having  struck  the  enemy,  an  order  is  issued 
and  all  the  other  guns  are  graduated  accordingly. 

What  I  have  submitted  to  yr.  Lp.  is  in  perfect  confidence.  I 
beg  my  name  may  not  be  mentioned. 


FKOM   GENERAL  MASON. 

Office  of  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners 
Washington  Oct.  5th,  1813. 

SIR. 

It  is  intended  to  give  answers  in  this  letter  to  the  letters 
accumulated  from  you  during  the  late  short  absence,  I  made 
from  the  seat  of  Government,  to  which  I  have  not  already  re 
plied,  and  about  which  I  find  you  are  beginning  to  complain. 

I  did  not  fail  to  remark  your  frequent  complaints,  on  the 
same  subject,  last  summer :  I  am  not  conscious  that  I  have  at 
any  time  permitted  a  communication  of  yours  to  remain  unan 
swered,  more  than  a  few  days,  an  early  reply  to  which,  was  a 
matter  of  any  consequence  to  either  Government ;  it  is  very 
true  that  I  often  did  delay  answers  to  those  of  the  very  numer 
ous  letters,  which  you  were  constantly  in  the  habit  of  addres 
sing  to  me,  that  were  considered  of  minor  importance,  from 
the  necessity  of  making  them  occasionally  yield  to  the  more 
essential  avocations,  which  the  various  duties  of  this  office 
daily  produce;  and  such,  Sir,  must  inevitably  be  the  case, 
while  it  is  attempted  to  conduct  all  the  business  of  your  Gov 
ernment,  in  connection  with  this  office,  with  which  you  are 
entrusted,  at  the  distance,  at  which  we  are  placed,  through  the 
medium  of  correspondence  only.  During  the  six  months  that 
you,  and  I  have  now  been  in  official  intercourse,  you  have  al- 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  339 

ready  addressed  me  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  public 
letters,  not  unfrequently  two,  or  three,  on  a  day  the  subjects 
of  many  of  which  might  have  been  settled,  by  a  personal  in 
terview  in  a  few  moments ;  nor  is  this  all ;  it  has  several  times 
happened  and  it  must  often  happen  again,  that  while  with 
every  possible  promptness  in  answering  letters,  it  requires  at 
least  one  week  to  communicate  by  mail  a  business  of  impor 
tance  to  the  two  nations,  demanding  despatch,  must  stand,  un- 
till  a  discussion  takes  place  by  letter,  that  will  produce,  per 
haps,  the  interchange  of  several  communications.  It  was  ap 
prehended,  when  your  request,  at  the  time  of  your  reception- 
that  your  Residence  should  be  taken  near  New  York,  was  as, 
sented  to,  that  inconvenience  would  be  experienced  from  the 
remoteness,  at  which  you  would  be  located  from  the  Seat  of 
Government  $  from  a  desire  that  you  should  be  accommodated, 
in  your  personal  arrangements,  I  made  myself  no  objection  to 
it ;  but  now  that  experience  has  proved  to  me  that  it  is  impos 
sible  to  conduct  the  Intercourse  relative  to  Prisoners,  with 
proper  advantage  to  either  Government  (and  more  particu 
larly  as  the  war  advances,  and  that  intercourse  will  necessarily 
become  more  complex)  at  the  distance,  at  which  their  agents 
are  now  placed  from  each  other,  I  have  considered  it  incum 
bent  on  me  to  apprise  you  of  my  conviction  on  this  point,  and 
to  recommend  it  to  your  serious  consideration. 

I  have  &c 

J.  MASON. 


FROM  THE  TRANSPORT  BOARD. 

Transport  Office, 

6th  November  1813. 
SIR. 

In  reference  to  our  letter  of  the  18th  of  August  last,  in  an 
swer  to  yours  of  the  20th  of  May,  relative  to  the  Cartel  Agree 
ment  entered  into  by  yourself  and  General  Mason,  for  the 
Exchange  of  Prisoners  of  War,  we  now  transmit,  for  your  In 
formation  and  Guidance,  the  Copies  of  an  Order  of  the  Right 


340       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Honorable  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty,  dated 
the  SOfch  of  September  and  of  its  Inclosure  from  Colonel  Bun- 
bury,  signifying  the  Opinion  of  the  Earl  Bathurst,  on  the  sev 
eral  Articles  of  the  said  Cartel  Agreement,  and  desiring  that 
the  same  might  be  ratified  with  the  Alterations  suggested  by 
His  Lordship,  in  consequence  of  our  Observations  thereon,  a 
Copy  of  which  you  will  also  receive  herewith  and  we  direct 
you  to  propose  such  alterations  to  the  American  Government. 
For  your  further  Information,  we  enclose  a  Draft  of  a  Cartel 
which  you  are  to  propose  in  lieu  of  the  one  transmitted  by 
you,  and  we  desire  that  in  any  discussion  which  may  take 
place  on  the  several  Points  therein,  you  will  conduct  yourself 
in  conformity  to  the  Suggestions  contained  in  Colonel  Bun- 
bury's  letter  abovementioned. 

You  will  observe  that,  in  the  Draft  above  referred  to  no 
Mention  has  been  made  of  the  Ration,  as  no  Alteration  can  be 
made  in  the  Rations  at  present  allowed  to  American  Prisoners 
of  War  either  in  this  country  or  on  Foreign  Stations,  of  which  a 
Statement  was  contained  in  our  Letter  of  the  1st  December  1812. 

With  respect  to  the  subsistence  of  Parole  Prisoners,  we  ac 
quaint  you  that  the  Allowance  to  American  Prisoners  in  this 
Country  has  been  augmented  to  Two  Shillings  Per  Diem  for 
Commissioned  Officers,  and  One  Shilling  and  Six  Pence  per 
Diem  for  all  inferior  Parole  Prisoners,  the  Allowance  to  those 
on  Foreign  Stations  to  remain  as  at  present. 

You  will  also  observe,  that  in  the  Names  of  Places  at  which 
American  Prisoners  are  to  be  stationed  for  Exchange,  Liver 
pool  and  Falmouth  have  been  omitted,  there  being  no  means 
of  accommodating  Prisoners  of  War  at  those  Places ;  and  we 
consider  that  the  Insertion  of  them  in  the  Cartel  Agreement 
entered  into  by  you  arose  from  a  misapprehension  of  our  Let 
ter  of  the  5th  January  last,  wherein  we  acquainted  you  that 
Liverpool  and  Falmouth  were  Ports  appointed  for  the  Recep 
tion  of  American  Cartels. 

We  are  &c 

RUP*  GEORGE 
J.  BOWEN 
JNO.  HARNESS. 


AGENT  FOB  BRITISH  PRISONERS  341 

FROM   ME.   MONEOE. 

Department  of  State, 

Dec'  28,  1813. 
SIR, 

For  reasons  which  every  day  become  more  evident,  the  Pres 
ident  has  determined  that  you  should  reside  near  the  seat  of 
government. 

You  will  be  pleased,  as  soon  after  the  reception  of  this  let 
ter  as  your  convenience  will  permit,  to  take  your  residence  at 
Bladensburg,  in  the  vicinity  of  this  city.  A  passport  to  travel 
thither  is  sent  you. 

Such  regulations  will  be  made,  as  to  your  visits  to  the  office 
of  the  Commissary  General,  or  other  places,  required  by  your 
functions,  as  are  observed  towards  our  agents  in  the  country 
of  the  enemy. 

I  remain  &c 

JAS.  MONROE. 


TO   ME.   MONEOE. 

Harlem,  New  York,  4th  Jan?  1814. 

(Private.) 
SIR, 

I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  the  order  of  the  President  com 
municated  to  me  in  your  official  letter  of  the  28th  was  not  un 
expected,  General  Mason  having  more  than  once  mentioned  to 
me  that  my  residence  at  this  distance  from  the  seat  of  Gov* 
was  inconvenient  to  him,  as  he  was  obliged  to  devote  a  greater 
part  of  his  time  to  writing,  than  his  other  duties  would  permit, 
and  that  by  my  removal,  this  inconvenience  would  be  reme 
died,  as  most  of  our  communications  would  be  verbal. 

If  Gen1  Mason's  conclusions  were  correct,  I  would  readily 

have  concurred  with  his  original  proposal  —  the  contrary  is 

the  fact,  at  least  as  it  respects  myself.     I  should  hold  myself 

guilty  of  extreme  negligence  in  conducting  the  business  of  the 

22* 


342  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

office  I  hold  by  verbal  communications  liable  to  different  con 
structions,  mistakes  and  want  of  memory. —  Wherever  I  re 
side,  while  I  execute  the  Office  I  hold,  I  shall  feel  bound  to 
make  and  receive  all  official  propositions  and  suggestions  in 
writing —  Gen1  Mason  will  therefore  derive  no  additional  con 
venience  from  my  residence  at  Bladensburg;  and  he  was  in 
full  possession  of  my  sentiments,  that  in  the  event  of  my  be 
ing  ordered  to  or  near  Washington,  I  should  apply  to  his 
Majesty's  Ministers  for  leave  to  resign  my  appointment.  From 
my  official  letter  to  you  Sir  of  this  day  you  will  observe  that  I 
have  done  this.  In  April,  I  hope  my  Successor  will  arrive. 

Altho'  I  do  not  consider  myself  entitled  to  request  your  good 
Offices  in  my  favor,  still  I  trust  you  will  have  the  goodness  to 
state  in  the  most  respectful  manner  to  the  President,  what  I 
have  stated  to  you  and  to  aid  my  request  with  your  personal 
interest  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  remain  in  my  present  sit 
uation  until  a  Successor  arrives. 


FROM  ME.  MONROE. 

Department  of  State, 

February  2,  1814. 
SIR, 

In  answer  to  your  solicitation,  under  date  of  the  4th  ultimo, 
for  a  postponement  of  your  removal  from  the  place  of  your 
present  residence,  respecting  which  the  President's  determina 
tion  was  communicated  to  you  from  this  Department  on  the 
28th  of  December  last,  I  have  to  state  to  you,  that  Bladens- 
burg  is  a  post  town,  affording  an  opportunity  of  daily  com 
munication  with  other  parts  of  the  United  States  $  and  that 
you  will  be  thereby  enabled  as  promptly  to  fulfil  the  appro 
priate  duties  of  your  agency  for  prisoners  in  that  situation,  as 
if  you  were  to  remain  in  the  vicinity  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
The  President  has  always  been  disposed  to  grant  the  most  lib 
eral  indulgences  that  the  conduct  of  individuals  and  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  war  would  justify  ;  but  the  British  Govern 
ment  cannot  reasonably  expect  for  its  agents  in  this  country,  a 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  343 

greater  latitude  of  personal  convenience  than  that  which  those 
of  the  United  States  enjoy  in  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain. 
The  rigor  exercised  towards  the  American  Agents  for  prison 
ers  at  Quebec  and  Halifax,  in  particular,  requires  a  corre 
sponding  treatment  of  British  Agents  by  this  government.  I 
am,  therefore,  constrained  to  renew  to  you  the  request  con 
tained  in  my  letter  of  the  28th  of  December,  and  to  refer  you 
to  the  passport  which  accompanied  it. 

I  remain  &c. 

JAS.  MONROE. 


TO   THE  TRANSPORT   BOARD. 

Harlem,  13th  February  1814. 
SIRS, 

In  December  last  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Monroe,  the 
American  Secretary  of  State,  acquainting  me  that  the  Presi 
dent  had  determined  for  reasons  which  every  day  became 
more  evident,  that  I  should  reside  near  the  Seat  of  Govern 
ment;  and  that  as  soon  as  my  convenience  would  permit  it 
was  directed  by  the  President  that  I  should  remove  to  a  place 
called  Bladensburg  within  nine  miles  of  the  City  of  Washing 
ton.  In  my  answer,  I  informed  Mr.  Monroe  I  should  obey  the 
order  of  the  President,  but  that  my  removal  to  Bladensburgh 
would  place  it  wholly  out  of  my  power  to  do  my  duty  to  the 
British  Prisoners  of  War,  and  that  under  this  conviction,  I 
should  write  to  you  Gentlemen  and  request  you  to  accept  of 
my  resignation,  and  to  send  out  a  person  to  succeed  me  in  Of 
fice  and  I  submitted  for  the  consideration  of  the  President, 
whether  under  the  circumstance  of  my  having  requested  you 
to  send  out  a  Gentleman  to  succeed  me  in  office,  he  might  not 
leave  me  in  my  present  situation,  where  I  could  execute  the 
duties  of  my  office  for  a  period  not  exceeding  five  months, 
within  which  period,  my  successor  would  arrive.1 

1  The  letter  to  Monroe  which  is     Transport  Board  on  January  5,  brief- 
here  abstracted  is  the  official  letter    ly,  on  the  subject, 
of  January  4.    Barclay  wrote  to  the 


344        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

On  the  3rd  of  this  month  I  received  Mr.  Monroe's  reply  in 
which  the  original  order  of  the  President  for  my  removal 
was  repeated,  and  he  informed  me  that  the  restrictions  im 
posed  on  Mr.  Mitchell  the  American  Agent  for  Prisoners  at 
Halifax  Nova  Scotia,  and  Col.  Gardner  the  American  Agent  at 
Quebec,  were  in  the  number  of  reasons  which  had  induced  the 
President  to  order  my  removal. 

I  request  you  will  be  pleased  to  appoint  an  Agent  to  suc 
ceed  me  in  the  Office  I  hold  under  you,  and  that  he  may  be 
sent  to  America  with  all  convenient  dispatch.  I  cannot  think 
of  holding  an  Office  when  I  am  placed  in  a  situation  which 
will  prevent  my  performing  the  duties  assigned  me. 

Should  the  negotiations  to  be  carried  on  at  Gottenburg  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  promise  a  peace,  I 
have  no  objection  to  continue  in  Office  until  the  result  is 
known  ;  but  should  they  be  broken  off  and  the  war  continued, 
I  entreat  you  will  be  pleased  to  supersede  me.1 


FROM  THE  TRANSPORT  BOARD. 

Transport  Office 

9th  June  1814. 
SIR. 

We  have  received  your  letters  of  the  13th  and  18th  of  Febru 
ary  last,  and  having  communicated  the  same  to  the  Lords 
Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  we  have  received  their  Lord 
ships  directions  to  appoint  Mr.  Gilbert  Robertson  to  succeed 
you  as  Agent  for  Prisoners  of  War  in  the  United  States  of 
America  —  you  will  accordingly  deliver  up  to  Mr.  Gilbert 
Robertson  on  his  arrival,  all  the  Public  Papers  in  your  pos 
session  belonging  to  this  Department,  and  transmit  your  final 
Accounts  to  this  Office,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

We  are  &c 

RUPT.  W.  GEORGE 

J.  DOUGLASS 

A.  BOYLE. 

1  These  were  the  negotiations  proposed  to  be  undertaken  under  the 
mediation  of  Russia. 


AGENT   FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  345 

FROM   GENERAL   MASON. 

Office  of  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners. 

Washington  August  19,  1814. 
SIR. 

At  the  time  it  was  determined  that  your  residence  should  be 
nearer  the  Seat  of  Government  than  that  at  Harlem  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  facility  and  ex 
pedition  to  the  Communications  in  which  you  are  engaged 
with  the  Government,  Bladensburg  was  named  because  of  its 
immediate  vicinity. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  war,  considerations  present  them 
selves  which  will  readily  occur  to  you,  to  make  that  place  or 
any  other  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  waters  occupied  or 
which  may  probably  be  occupied  by  the  hostile  forces,  no 
longer  a  proper  residence  for  an  Agent  of  the  Enemy.  Troops 
have  already  arrived,  and  a  camp  as  you  will  have  observed,  is 
forming  at  Bladensburg. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  am  instructed  by  the  Secretary 
of  State  to  inform  you  it  has  been  determined  that  you  take 
your  residence  at  a  place  in  the  interior  more  remote  from  the,, 
waters;  that  Hagerstown  in  Maryland  has  been  fixed  on  for 
that  purpose  ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  the  menacing  move 
ments  of  the  enemy,  you  are  requested  to  remove  with  the 
least  possible  delay  from  Bladensburg  to  that  place,  for  which 
end  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  a  Passport. 

I  have  &c 

J.  MASON. 


TO   GENERAL    MASON. 

Hagers  Town  Washington  County  Maryland 

Septr  2nd  1814. 
SIR. 

Mr.  Barton  on  his  arrival  here  the  day  before  yesterday, 
laid  before  me  your  Letter  of  the  28th  of  last  month  in  which 
you  express  your  astonishment  that  he  still  remained  in  Bla- 


346  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

densburg,  and  acquainted  him  that  you  were  instructed  to  re 
quire  him  to  leave  that  place  for  Hagers  Town  within  two 
hours  after  the  receipt  of  your  Letter. 

On  Monday  the  22nd  of  August  I  had  the  Honor  to  receive 
your  Letter  of  the  19th  of  that  month  containing  an  order  for 
my  immediate  removal  from  Bladensburg  to  this  place,  in  con 
sequence  of  which  I  sent  Mr.  Barton  on  the  22nd  of  August  to 
acquaint  you,  and  to  request  you  would  supply  me  with  car 
riages  for  the  removal  of  myself  and  office  papers;  at  the 
same  time  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  procure  a  conveyance  for 
my  office  papers  and  baggage  and  a  carriage  for  Mr.  Barton 
and  myself,  my  inquiries  were  continued  Tuesday  and  Wed 
nesday  morning,  but  without  effect.  At  10  o'clock  on  Wednes 
day  the  24  inst.  a  small  Coachee  was  sent  by  Mr.  Gantt  of 
your  office  with  directions  for  my  immediately  leaving  Bla 
densburg.  The  vehicle  was  too  small  to  take  even  a  part  of 
my  office  papers,  in  order  therefore  to  comply  as  far  as  lay  in 
my  power  with  the  directions  of  your  Government,  I  stepped 
into  the  Coachee  with  a  small  trunk  and  left  Bladensburg  at 
11  o'clock  for  this  place,  leaving  Mr.  Barton  in  charge  of  the 
papers  and  baggage,  with  directions  to  follow  me  as  soon  as 
possible.  You  must  be  sensible,  Sir,  of  the  importance  of  the 
papers  belonging  to  my  office,  and  I  cannot  entertain  an  Idea, 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  this  Government  or  yourself,  that 
they  should  have  been  left  at  Bladensburg  without  either  Mr. 
Barton  or  myself  to  protect  them.  Such  however  has  been 
the  case  from  your  positive  injunction  to  Mr.  Barton.  It  could 
not,  or  ought  not,  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  this  Govern 
ment  and  yourself  that  at  the  time  I  was  ordered  to  leave  Bla 
densburg  to  the  day  Mr.  Barton  was  compelled  to  remove 
from  thence,  every  Waggon,  cart  and  other  carriage  were 
either  impressed  into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States 
or  hired  by  Individuals  removing  from  Washington  and 
George  Town,  consequently  compelling  Mr.  Barton  and  my 
self  to  leave  Bladensburg,  was  reducing  us  to  the  necessity  of 
abandoning  the  public  documents  belonging  to  my  office ;  un 
der  these  circumstances,  permit  me  to  say,  it  became  your 
duty  to  have  provided  a  mode  for  conveying  the  office  papers, 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  347 

when  myself,  and  Mr.  Barton  afterwards  were  compelled  to 
leave  Bladensburg.  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  add  that  I  protest 
against  my  having  been  obliged  to  remove  without  my  papers, 
and  in  still  stronger  Terms,  that  Mr.  Barton,  who  I  had  left 
in  charge  of  them,  was  forced  to  leave  them,  unprotected,  in 
compliance  with  your  mandatory  injunction  of  the  28  ulto.  I 
regret  that  Mr.  Barton  obeyed  your  order,  at  the  risque  of  the 
loss  of  the  papers ;  and  would  rather  at  this  moment  he  was 
placed  in  confinement  for  disobedience  of  orders,  than  to  have 
deserted  his  charge,  to  obey  those  orders.  During  the  late 
long  war  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  or  in  any  preceding 
Wars,  I  suspect  no  instance  occurred  where  a  public  civil  offi 
cer  of  one  of  the  Nations  at  war,  recognized  as  such  by  the 
other  nation  and  residing  within  its  jurisdiction,  was  com 
pelled  to  remove  from  one  place  to  another,  without  his  official 
papers,  or  being  permitted  to  leave  his  Secretary  or  Clerk  to 
take  charge  of  them.  Should  an  accident  occur  to  the  papers, 
His  Majesty  will  have  just  cause  of  complaint  against  this 
Government. 

If  the  office  papers  do  not  arrive  in  a  day  or  two,  I  shall 
feel  it  my  duty  at  all  hazard  to  send  Mr.  Barton  with  a  Wag 
gon  or  cart  from  hence  for  them,  as  it  would  be  imprudent  to 
entrust  them  to  a  Servant  or  common  carrier. 


FEOM   GENERAL   MASON. 

Office  of  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners. 

Washington  August  31st  1814. 
SIR, 

I  am  in  possession,  by  the  honourable  conduct  of  a  Gentle 
man  whose  character  you  have  greatly  mistaken,  of  a  letter 
addressed  by  you  on  the  21st  instant  to  Admiral  Sir  Alexander 
Cochrane,  and  which  you  attempted  to  convey  under  seal  (se 
creted  in  the  foot  of  a  stocking)  contrary  to  an  arrangement 
made  with  you  on  principles  of  reciprocity,  and  against  the  in 
junctions  of  this  Government,  as  admitted  by  you  in  your 
note  of  the  same  date,  to  the  Gentleman  you  expected  to  have 
made  the  bearer  of  that  letter. 


348        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

These  have  been  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  as 
have  been  the  facts,  that  although  notified  from  this  Office 
of  his  requisition  that  you  should  leave  Bladensburg,  so  that 
your  retiring  would  have  taken  place  at  least  three  days  before 
the  approach  of  the  Enemy,  you  did  not  leave  it  by  as  many  hours 
before  a  battle  was  fought  on  the  spot  ;  and  that  your  Secre 
tary  remained  not  only  in  a  situation  to  communicate  person 
ally  with  the  Officers  of  the  Army  of  the  Enemy,  but  continued 
there  several  days  after,  and  until  a  peremptory  order  ad 
dressed  to  himself,  was  sent  for  his  removal. 

I  am  instructed  to  state  to  you  that  this  course  of  conduct, 
so  incompatible  with  your  obvious  duty,  and  more  especially 
with  the  confidence  belonging  to  your  station  makes  it  neces 
sary  to  declare  that  all  correspondence  with  you  on  the  part  of 
the  Government  is  to  cease ;  and  that  as  an  alien  enemy  you 
are  required  to  remain  for  the  present  at  Hagerstown. 

I  have  &e 

J.  MASON. 


TO  GENERAL   MASON. 

Hagers  Town,  Maryland  5th  Septr.  1814. 

SIR. 

Your  letter  of  the  31st  of  August,  informing  me  you  was  in 
structed  to  state  that  all  correspondence  with  me  was  to  cease 
on  the  part  of  this  Government,  I  have  had  the  Honor  to 
receive. 

It  appears  that  three  exceptions  to  my  conduct  are  sug 
gested  as  the  cause  of  the  above  mentioned  determination. 
With  respect  to  the  first,  the  intercepted  Note  from  me  to  Vice 
Admiral  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  found  on  the  person  of  Mr. 
Edward  Calvert,  I  have  only  to  remark  that  the  purport  of  the 
letter  was  perfectly  innocent,  and  related  only  to  the  release  of 
his  overseer  and  a  domestic  made  Prisoners  by  a  detachment 
of  His  Majesty's  Naval  Forces  in  the  Patuxent.  It  is  true  I 
did  recommend  Mr.  Calvert  to  conceal  the  Letter,  not  from  an 
unwillingness  that  it  should  be  examined,  but  to  prevent  delay 
in  his  application,  and  from  an  apprehension  the  Prisoners 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  349 

would  in  a  day  or  two  be  sent  to  Halifax.  It  is  with  surprise 
I  now  learn,  this  act  of  mine,  which  was  intended  to  accommo 
date  a  citizen  of  these  States,  is  considered  exceptionable  by 
your  Government. 

With  regard  to  the  two  other  exceptions,  I  beg  leave  to  re 
fer  you  to  my  Letter  of  the  2d  Instant,  which  I  trust  contains 
a  full  answer;  in  which  I  consider  myself,  with  just  cause, the 
person  aggrieved. 

In  consequence  of  the  determination  of  this  Government,  I 
now  enclose  a  Letter  to  Mr.  Monroe  the  Secretary  of  State,  re 
questing  him  to  furnish  me  with  usual  Passports  for  myself, 
Clerk,  and  Family.  Be  pleased  to  deliver  it,  and  obtain  an 
answer  as  early  as  convenient. 


FROM   GENERAL  MASON. 

Office  of  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners. 

Washington  Septr  16  1814. 
SIR 

I  have  received  your  letters  of  the  2d,  5th  and  12th  of  Septem 
ber.  The  letter  for  the  Secretary  of  State  covered  by  yours  of 
the  5th  Septr,  has  been  sent  to  him,  accompanied  by  such  a  state 
ment  from  this  office,  as  the  case  required. 

I  am  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  inform  you,  that 
a  Cartel  Ship  owned  by  Mr.  Astor  of  New  York,  is  now  adver 
tised  by  the  permission  of  the  Government,  to  go  to  Europe ; 
that  she  will  land  passengers  in  the  British  Channel  j  that  she 
will  sail  from  New  York  in  fifteen  days  from  this  time,  and 
that  if  you  think  proper  to  avail  yourself  of  this  opportunity 
to  return  to  England,  passports  will  be  sent  you  for  yourself 
and  family  to  embark  from  Amboy  in  Jersey,  and  to  go  on 
board  Ship  in  the  outer  harbour  of  New  York,  and  an  Officer 
will  be  sent  to  accompany  you  from  Hagerstown  to  Amboy  j 
that  on  account  of  the  military  works  now  prosecuting  at 
Harlem,  permission  cannot  be  granted  you  to  go  to  that  place, 
nor  can  any  excursions  from  Hagerstown  be  permitted,  previ 
ous  to  your  departure  from  that  place  for  embarkation ;  that 
Mr.  Barton,  your  Secretary,  will  be  permitted  to  remain  there 


350       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

for  the  present,  in  charge  of  your  papers,  and  may  correspond, 
through  this  Office,  with  your  Sub-agents,  and  when  he  shall 
require  it,  if  no  reasons,  personal  to  him,  in  the  mean  time 
occur  against  it,  he  will  have  a  passport,  and  permission  to 
return  to  England. 

I  have  etc. 

J.  MASON. 

FEOM   GENEKAL  MASON. 

Office  of  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners. 

Washington  Septr  23rd  1814. 
SIR 

This  letter  will  be  handed  you  by  ColP  Gardner,  the  Officer 
who  has  been  designated  to  accompany  you,  in  a  route  pre 
scribed  to  him,  to  Amboy  in  Jersey,  and  to  remain  with  you 
until  your  embarkation.  Your  passport  will  be  sent  to  you, 
to  meet  you  at  Amboy.  You  will  be  pleased  to  name,  to  me, 
the  persons  of  your  Family,  whom  you  wish  to  embark  with 
you,  and  to  be  inserted  in  your  passport. 

I  am  instructed  to  inform  you,  that  it  is  expected  you  will 
come  under  an  engagement,  to  this  Government,  not  to  leave 
the  ship,  in  which  you  will  sail,  until  you  arrive  on  the  coast 
of  England ;  that  you  will  not  be  the  Bearer  of  any  letters  or 
packets,  which  have  not  been  submitted  for  examination,  and 
that  while  Col°  Gardner  is  with  you,  all  letters  which  you  may 
write,  or  receive,  except  those  to,  or  from,  your  family,  shall 
be  inspected  by  him. 

As  the  information  to  you  may  be  useful  to  the  service  of 
your  Government,  in  the  disposition  of  your  Official  Papers,  I 
am  authorized  to  inform  you,  that  if  the  Mr.  Robertson,  whom 
you  mention  in  your  letter  of  the  5th  of  Septr  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  as  having  been  appointed  your  successor,  is  the  Mr.  Gil 
bert  Robertson,  lately  residing  in  the  State  of  New  York,  he 
will  not  be  received  or  permitted  to  land.  It  must  be  pre 
sumed,  if  this  is  the  person,  that  the  British  Government  was 
not  apprized  of  his  conduct  here,  and  of  the  circumstances, 
under  which  he  left  the  Country. 

I  shall  notify  this  determination  to  Admiral  Cochrane,  and 


AGENT  FOR  BRITISH  PRISONERS  351 

inform  him,  that  if  he  is  disposed  to  send  an  Agent  for  Pris 
oners  to  reside  here,  until  his  government  has  an  opportunity 
of  making  a  more  permanent  appointment,  he  shall  be  received 
and  respected. 

I  have  etc. 

J.  MASON. 


TO   GENERAL  MASON. 

Hagers  Town  Maryland  26th  Septr.  1814. 
SIR 

Your  letter  of  the  23rd  Instant  was  delivered  to  me  last  even 
ing  by  Col.  Gardner,  who  will  acquaint  you  of  the  delay  he  has 
experienced  on  the  road  by  which  my  departure  will  be  delayed 
three  days.  I  shall  certainly  not  leave  the  Ship  on  which  I  de 
part  from  the  Port  of  New  York  until  my  arrival  in  England, 
unless  by  some  accident  she  become  unsafe.  I  do  not  think  I 
shall  be  the  Bearer  of  any  letter,  but  should  I  take  charge  of 
some,  I  will  lay  them  before  Col.  Gardner  for  his  inspection. 
Mr.  Gilbert  Robertson  who  is  appointed  to  succeed  me,  is  the 
Gentleman  who  lately  resided  in  these  States ;  and  who  un 
questionably  had  a  right  to  leave  them,  he  not  being  under  any 
parole  or  other  promise  to  the  contrary.  I  have  to  request  you 
will  be  pleased  to  transmit  the  enclosed  letter  to  Vice  Admiral 
The  Honorable  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane  ;  and  you  will  oblige 
me  by  acquainting  him,  with  the  determination  of  your  Gov 
ernment,  whether  it  will  receive  Mr.  George  Barton  as  Agent 
for  Prisoners,  ad  interim,  should  the  Admiral  wish  to  appoint 
him. — 

At  the  foot  hereof  are  the  names  of  my  family  to  be  included 
in  the  passport. 

Mrs.  Barclay. 
Miss  Barclay. 
Mr.  Anthony  Barclay. 
John  McDonald,  Servant. 

Mrs.  Barclay's  Maid  Servant,  name  not  known,  as  she  is  en 
deavoring  to  procure  one  who  is  accustomed  to  the  Sea. 


352  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   VICE-ADMIRAL   SIR  ALEXANDER  COCHRANE. 

Hagers  Town  Maryland  26th  September  1814. 
SIR, 

I  have  the  Honor  to  enclose  herewith  the  copy  of  a  letter  re 
ceived  from  the  American  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners 
of  War,  from  which  you  will  perceive  that  it  is  the  determina 
tion  of  this  Government,  on  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Robert 
son,  off  any  of  the  American  Ports  [not]  to  permit  him  to  land, 
or  to  accredit  him,  as  His  Majesty's  Agent  for  the  Belief  of 
British  Subjects  detained  in  the  United  States  and  for  carry 
ing  of  exchanges  of  prisoners.  That  if  you  are  disposed  to 
send  an  Agent  for  Prisoners  to  reside  in  these  States,  until 
His  Majesty's  Government  has  an  opportunity  of  making  a 
more  permanent  appointment,  he  will  be  received  and  respected. 

I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  you,  that  I  leave  Mr.  George  Barton, 
my  Clerk,  here  to  settle  the  present  Quarterly  accounts  to  the 
30  of  this  month.  Mr.  Barton  was  to  have  followed  me  to 
England  the  moment  this  business  was  completed  :  if  however 
he  can  be  of  service,  he  will  remain  in  these  States,  until  an 
Agent  is  sent  out  by  the  Commissioners  of  Transports,  but  no 
longer.  I  mention  this,  that  you  may  avail  yourself  of  his 
services  in  the  event  of  your  wishing  to  appoint  an  Agent  and 
being  at  a  loss  for  a  character  competent  to  the  Duties.  Mr. 
Barton  has  been  in  my  office  upwards  of  a  year,  and  is  thor 
oughly  acquainted  with  the  routine  of  Business.  He  is  a  Gen 
tleman  of  most  respectable  Connections  in  England  and  in  my 
opinion  every  way  trust  worthy.  You  will  be  pleased  to  recollect 
that  Mr.  Barton  has  no  wish  to  be  appointed ;  but  will  act  to  ac 
commodate  the  Service  until  a  successor  arrives.  His  allow 
ances  will  of  course  be  similar  to  those  I  have  received.  Be 
pleased  to  acquaint  him  with  your  determination,  and  should 
you  desire  him  to  act,  as  my  Successor,  it  will  be. proper  to 
send  him  a  commission  or  warrant  for  the  purpose.  I  leave 
this  to-morrow  for  Perth  Amboy  (there  being  no  conveyance 
this  day)  and  shall  immediately  embark  on  board  the  American 
Ship  Fingal  for  England. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY 

THE  third  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  provided 
that  all  prisoners  of  war  taken  on  either  side,  as 
well  by  land  as  by  sea,  should  be  restored  as  soon  as 
practicable  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty ;  and  that 
each  of  the  two  contracting  parties  should  discharge  in 
specie  the  advances  made  by  the  other  for  the  suste 
nance  and  maintenance  of  such  prisoners.  The  making 
up  and  verification  of  the  accounts  under  this  article 
no  doubt  proved  a  troublesome  business,  and  Barclay, 
who  was  now  in  London  at  No.  12  Tavistock  Square, 
and  later  at  64  South  Molton  Street,  must  have  had 
abundant  occupation  in  consequence  all  through  the 
famous  cold  winter  of  1815. 

But  more  important  duties  were  to  be  devolved  upon 
him  under  the  succeeding  articles,  which  related  to  the 
ever  vexatious  question  of  the  Canadian  boundary. 
The  commission  under  Jay's  treaty  had  done  no  more 
than  fix  the  starting-point ;  and,  except  the  line  of  the 
River  St.  Croix,  not  another  foot  of  the  boundary  had 
been  ascertained  in  the  thirty-one  years  which  had 
elapsed  since  the  treaty  of  1783.  Eufus  King  in  1803 
had  indeed  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  convention 
which  defined  the  boundary  through  the  several  islands 
of  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  and  provided  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  commission  to  run  the  remainder  of  the  line ; 

23  353 


354        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

but  the  convention  failed  of  ratification,  owing  to  a 
doubt  as  to  the  effect  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  might 
have  upon  the  boundary  near  its  western  end.1 

Monroe  and  Pinkney  in  1807  had  also  labored  to  ad 
just  the  terms  of  a  boundary  convention,  which  was  to 
follow  closely  King's  treaty  of  1803 ;  but  this  business 
was  broken  off  by  the  fall  of  the  Whig  government  af 
ter  Mr.  Fox's  death,  and  the  accession  of  the  Duke  of 
Portland's  administration.2 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  negotiations  at 
G-hent,  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  question  had 
been  kept  in  view.  The  British  commissioners  had 
tried,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  discussion,  to  obtain 
something  more  than  a  mere  tracing  of  the  lines  laid 
down  in  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  to  gain  some  accession 
of  territory.  They  desired,  especially,  to  "  revise  "  the 
frontier  so  as  to  secure  a  direct  communication  between 
Quebec  and  Halifax.3  This  demand  was,  however, 
withdrawn,  and  the  negotiation  proceeded  on  the  basis 
of  the  status  quo  ante  bellum.  On  November  10,  1814, 
the  American  commissioners  presented  the  draft  of  a 
treaty  in  which  five  articles  were  devoted  to  a  plan  for 
the  complete  ascertainment  of  the  boundary  from  East- 
port  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  which  lies  in  the 
western  half  of  the  present  State  of  Minnesota ;  and 
with  comparatively  trifling  modifications  their  draft  of 
these  five  articles  was  adopted. 

A  single  question  relating  to  the  boundaries  was  a 
cause  of  much  hesitation  and  difficulty.  The  British 
had  seized  Eastport  during  the  war,  and  they  declined 

1  Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Bel.,        3  Note  of  British  commissioners, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  584-591.  August  19, 1814 ;  Amer.  State  Papers, 

2  Amer.  State  Papers,  For.  Eel.,     For.  Bel.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  710. 
Vol.  Ill,  pp.  162-165. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  355 

to  restore  Moose  Island,  on  which  it  stands  —  although 
their  title  was  in  dispute.  It  was  finally  agreed  that 
both  parties  should  at  once  restore  all  territory  taken 
during  the  war,  except  the  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Pas- 
samaquoddy;  but  that  the  retention  of  these  islands 
by  the  British  should  not  affect  the  rights  of  either 
party. 

In  the  treaty  as  actually  signed,  Articles  IV.,  V., 
VI.,  VII.,  and  VIII.  related  to  the  boundaries.  By  the 
fourth  article  two  commissioners  were  to  be  appointed — 
one  by  each  nation  —  to  decide  upon  the  title  to  Grand 
Menan  and  the  islands  of  Passamaquoddy  Bay; 
and,  in  case  of  a  disagreement,  the  question  was  to  be 
referred  to  the  decision  of  some  friendly  sovereign. 
By  the  fifth  article  a  similar  board  was  to  determine 
the  line  from  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix  round  the 
northern  frontiers  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
and  New- York  to  the  point  where  the  boundary  reached 
the  St.  Lawrence.  A  third  board  was  to  be  appointed 
under  the  sixth  article  to  ascertain  the  boundary  west 
ward  from  the  point  where  the  commissioners  under 
the  fifth  article  left  it,  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  through 
the  Thousand  Islands,  through  Lake  Ontario,  the  Ni 
agara  River,  Lake  Erie,  the  Detroit  Eiver,  the  Lake 
and  River  of  St.  Glair,  and  so  through  Lake  Huron 
and  on  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  And  finally,  by  the 
seventh  article,  the  same  commissioners  were  further 
to  trace  the  line  through  Lake  Superior  and  on  to 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  The  eighth  article  prescribed 
general  regulations  affecting  all  the  boards  of  com 
missioners. 

The  British  Government  selected  its  representatives 
without  much  delay.  Thomas  Barclay  was  appointed 
His  Majesty's  Commissioner  under  the  fourth  and  fifth 


356       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

articles;  John  Ogilvy,  of  Montreal,  was  appointed 
Commissioner  under  Articles  VI.  and  YIL1 

Barclay's  appointment  was  announced  to  him  by 
Lord  Castlereagh  June  25,  1815,  while  London  streets 
were  still  echoing  to  the  shouts  that  greeted  the  news 
from  Waterloo.  To  Barclay  himself  the  tidings  of  that 
momentous  event  had  brought  mingled  emotions.  His 
own  son  had  passed  unhurt  through  the  varying  for 
tunes  of  the  day;  but  his  sister's  son,  Sir  William 
Howe  De  Lancey,  Wellington's  chief  of  staff,  had  fallen, 
mortally  wounded,  at  the  commander's  side.2 

Three  weeks  later  Barclay  sailed  once  more  for  Amer 
ica,  landing  at  Boston.  He  reached  New- York  Au 
gust  29,  1815,  and  at  once  resumed  the  duties  of  the 
Consul-G-eneral's  office,  pending  the  arrival  of  his  new 
commission.  That  instrument  bears  date  September  4, 
1815,  although,  for  some  quite  unaccountable  reason,  it 
did  not  reach  New- York  till  eleven  months  later. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
had  appointed  the  American  commissioners  —  John 
Holmes,  of  Maine,3  under  the  fourth  article ;  Cornelius 

1  Mr.  Ogilvy  fell  a  victim  to  the  Thou  saw'st  in  seas  of  gore  expire 
dangers  incident  to  his  employment.  Redoubted  Picton's  soul  of  fire  - 
TT,.,,.,        ,,         ,              y^  De  Lancey  change  Love's  bridal  wreath 
He  died  at  Amherstburgh,  near  De-  For  laurelys  from  ^  nand  Qf  Death< 

troit,  on  September  28,  1819,  of  a 

bilious  fever  contracted  among  the  An  account  of  Be  Lancey's  death, 

marshes  of  the  St.  Clair.     He  was  in  the  Duke's  own  words,  will  be 

succeeded  as  Commissioner  under  found  in  Samuel  Bogers's  Recollec- 

the   sixth   and  seventh  articles  by  tions. 

Anthony  Barclay,  Thomas  Barclay's  3  John  Holmes  was  born  at  Kings- 
youngest  son.  ton,  Mass.,  in  March,  1773;  gradu- 

2  See  Eopes's  Waterloo  Campaign,  ated  at  Brown  University  in  1796 ; 
De  Lancey  had  married  Captain  Ba-  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1799; 
sil  Hall's  sister  only  two  months  be-  and  settled  at  Alfred,  the  county 
fore  —  and  hence  the  allusion  in  Sir  town  of  York  County,  Maine.     He 
Walter  Scott's  dull  lines    on   The  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Field  of  Waterloo  :  Legislature  for  some  years,  and  was 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  357 

P.  Van  Ness,  of  Vermont,1  under  the  fifth  article ;  and 
Peter  B.  Porter,  of  New- York,2  under  the  sixth  and 
seventh  articles. 

Barclay's  commission  had  no  sooner  arrived  than  he 
set  about  the  business  with  which  he  was  intrusted. 
The  American  commissioners  under  the  fourth  and 
fifth  articles  were  notified,  and  meetings  were  held  at 
St.  Andrews,  New  Brunswick,  the  place  specified  in  the 
treaty,  on  September  23, 1816. 

Affairs  under  the  fourth  article  progressed  rapidly. 
The  sole  question,  as  we  have  seen,  related  to  the  title 
to  the  Island  of  Grand  Menan  and  the  islands  in  the 
Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  —  all  of  which  lie  far  to  the 
southward  of  the  mouth  of  the  Eiver  St.  Croix. 

Coming  from  the  westward,  every  vessel  bound  up 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  follows  along  the  picturesque  coast 
of  Maine  and  passes  through  the  deep  and  secure  chan 
nel  of  which  Grand  Menan  forms  the  eastern  and  south 
ern  side.  The  bold  and  rugged  cliffs  of  the  island  ex 
tend  for  twenty-two  miles  opposite  the  American  shore, 

elected  to  Congress,  as  we  shall  see,  mont,  and  was  subsequently  Col 
in  1817.  When  Maine  was  admitted  lector  of  the  Port  of  Burlington, 
as  a  State,  in  1820,  he  was  elected  to  Chief  Justice  of  Vermont,  Governor 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  served  ob-  of  that  State,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Spain 
scurely  until  1833.  He  was  after-  under  both  of  Jackson's  administra- 
ward  U.  S.  District-Attorney,  and  tions,  and  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
died  in  1843.  An  extended  sketch  New-York  under  Tyler.  He  died  in 
of  his  life  will  be  found  in  Willis's  Philadelphia  December  15,  1852. 
"Law,  the  Courts,  and  Lawyers  in  2peter  Buel  Porter  was  the  foun- 
Maine."  der  of  the  well-known  family  who 
1  Cornelius  Peter  Van  Ness  was  owned  so  much  of  the  land  about 
born  at  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  January  Niagara  Falls.  He  was  a  native  of 
26,  1782,  and  was  only  thirty-four  Connecticut,  was  for  two  terms  a 
yearsoldwhenappointedontheboun-  member  of  Congress,  and  served 
dary  commission.  Hewasapersistent  with  some  credit  in  the  War  of  1812. 
office-holder.  He  had  been  already  He  was  active  in  promoting  the  Erie 
U.  S.  District-Attorney  for  Ver-  Canal,  and  died  in  1844. 
23* 


of  Th&samaquocMy   Bay 
actual \Ju-rrfy- . 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  359 

terminating  in  a  lofty  headland  just  in  front  of  that 
difficult  entrance  into  Passamaquoddy  Bay  which  is 
known  as  the  West  Passage,  or  Lubec  Narrows.  The 
southern  shore  of  this  entrance  is  formed  by  the  main 
land;  the  northern  shore  by  the  romantic  island  of 
Campobello  — now  chiefly  known  as  the  site  of  a  couple 
of  summer  hotels.  Across  the  pretty  bay  lies  Eastport, 
famous  for  its  fisheries;  and  further  north  are  Deer 
Island  and  the  smaller  rocky  islets  of  Passamaquoddy. 
By  their  position  and  means  of  communication  with 
the  mainland,  these  islands  are  all  naturally  within  the 
territory  of  the  United  States ;  but  the  controversy  in 
1816  did  not  at  all  relate  to  what  ought  to  be  their  own 
ership.  The  dispute  was  the  purely  legal  one  whether 
these  islands,  or  any  of  them,  came  within  the  excep 
tion  mentioned  in  the  second  article  of  the  treaty  of 
1783.  By  that  article  all  islands  along  the  coast,  south 
of  the  River  St.  Croix,  were  to  belong  to  the  United 
States,  "  excepting  such  islands  as  now  are,  or  heretofore 
have  been,  within  the  limits  of  the  said  province  of  Nova 
Scotia."  The  inquiry  turned,  therefore,  upon  a  histor 
ical  examination  of  the  ancient  charters  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  Massachusetts  Bay ;  and  upon  this  point  interest 
ing  arguments  were  submitted  to  the  Commissioners 
by  the  respective  agents.  Ward  Chipman  —  who  had 
served  in  a  similar  capacity  in  1796  —  appeared  on  the 
British  side ;  James  T.  Austin  on  the  American.1  The 
board  met  at  Boston  in  June,  1817,  to  hear  argument,, 
and  adjourned  until  September  to  allow  the  prepara 
tion  of  replies.  A  long  debate  ensued,  but  on  October 

1  James  T.  Austin  was  born   in  was  Attorney-General  of  Massachu- 

Boston  January  7,  1784 ;  married  a  setts  from  1832  to  1843 ;  and  died 

daughter  of  Elbridge  Gerry ;  became  May  8,  1870. 
a  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  Bar  ; 


360        COEEESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BAECLAY 

9th  a  final  conclusion  was  reached,  under  which  Deer 
Island,  Campobello,  and  Grand  Menan  were  awarded 
to  Great  Britain,  and  Moose  Island  (Eastport)  and  two 
smaller  islands  to  the  United  States.  The  formal 
award,  engrossed  on  parchment,  was  executed  at  New- 
York  on  November  24, 1817. 

Far  less  satisfactory  was  the  fate  of  the  inquiry  under 
the  fifth  article  of  the  Treaty  of  G-hent.  The  boundary 
had  been  defined  in  the  treaty  of  1783  as  running  due 
north  from  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix  to  the  northwest 
angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  at  "  the  highlands  which  divide 
those  rivers  that  empty  themselves  into  the  Eiver  St. 
Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  " ;  thence  along  the  "  highlands  "  to  the  "  north- 
westernmost  head  of  the  Connecticut  River";  thence 
down  that  river  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  latitude ; 
and  thence  due  west  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  so  up 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  through  the  lakes. 

From  the  very  first  Barclay  doubted  whether  it  would 
be  possible  to  come  to  any  agreement  as  to  the  two  im 
portant  points, —  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  the  head  of  the  Connecticut, —  although  the  British 
Foreign  Oifice,  in  cheerful  ignorance  of  all  the  facts,  re 
garded  it  as  a  "  mere  operation  of  survey."  Barclay 
was  right.  The  question  remained  unsettled  for  twenty- 
seven  years,  and  when  it  was  finally  compromised  by 
the  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty,  in  1842,  the  conduct 
of  each  of  the  negotiators  was  vehemently  denounced 
by  his  own  countrymen  as  a  surrender. 

Barclay  not  only  knew  the  facts  of  the  case,  so  far  as 
anybody  knew  them  in  that  day,  but  he  was  also  deeply 
conscious  of  the  delicate  position  in  which  he  was 
placed.  He  was  a  native  of  New- York,  he  had  married 
his  wife  in  New- York,  his  family  had  their  home  there, 


6\9        Lonqituc 


Map  of  the 

NORTHERN  PART 


and  of  the  adjacent 

TISH  (ffyms/CE 

Showing  the  portion-  of  tfiat  State 


GREAT  BRITAIN  LAYS  CLAIM 


S.L  MASHIELL , 
Washington,  183 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  361 

his  sons  were  New- York  merchants,  his  daughters  had 
married  Livingstons  and  Stuyvesants,  and  he  was  a 
cousin  of  half  the  people  in  the  place.  Nova  Scotia 
and  Canada  were  sensitive  on  the  subject,  and  if  Lord 
Ashburton  was  attacked  and  discredited  because  he  had 
married  an  American  wife,  we  may  guess  what  sort  of 
a  storm  would  have  been  raised  if  Barclay  had  yielded 
to  American  demands.  Far  more  stubbornly,  proba 
bly,  than  any  native  Englishman,  Barclay  stood  firm 
for  the  extremest  British  claims. 

The  Commissioners  met  for  the  first  time  at  St.  An 
drews  on  September  23,  1816,  and  obviously  no  more 
could  then  be  done  than  to  appoint  surveyors  to  explore 
the  unknown  wilderness  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
St.  John,  the  Restigouche,  the  Penobscot,  the  Kenne- 
bec  and  the  Connecticut.  The  summer  of  1817  passed 
in  preliminary  exploration,  which  was  followed  the  next 
season  by  more  detailed  surveys,  and  as  the  season 
of  1818  drew  to  an  end,  the  facts  of  the  case  in  their 
general  outlines  became  perfectly  and  unmistakably 
clear. 

The  north  line,  as  it  runs  from  the  monument  at  the 
source  of  the  St.  Croix,  dips  down  into  the  broad  basin 
drained  by  the  River  St.  John,  whose  waters  empty 
into  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  country  is  rough  and 
hilly,  and  at  Mars  Hill,  about  forty  miles  from  the  mon 
ument,  the  line  reaches  its  highest  elevation.  Not  quite 
forty  miles  further  on  the  River  St.  John  is  crossed, 
and  then  the  line  rises  to  the  ridge  dividing  the  waters 
of  the  St.  John  and  the  Restigouche,  the  latter  a  stream 
emptying  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Crossing  the 
basin  of  the  Restigouche  the  line  finally  —  at  a  distance 
of  143  miles  from  the  St.  Croix  monument  —  reaches 
waters  flowing  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence. 


362        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Now  the  treaty  of  1783  required  the  line  to  end  at 
"  Highlands,"  dividing  rivers  running  into  the  River 
St.  Lawrence  from  rivers  "  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean."  Did  "Highlands"  mean  mountains?  If  it 
did,  there  was  nothing  to  answer  that  description  north 
of  Mars  Hill.  Did  it  mean  merely  a  watershed, —  a 
dividing  ridge?  If  so,  there  was  the  choice  between 
two  such  ridges, —  that  between  the  St.  John  and  the 
Restigouche,  and  that  between  the  Restigouche  and 
the  St.  Lawrence.  But  the  St.  John  fell  into  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  and  the  Restigouche  into  the  G-ulf  of  St. 
Lawrence ;  and  the  British  representatives  contended 
that  neither  of  these  could  be  held  to  be  rivers  "  which 
fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,"  within  the  meaning  of 
the  treaty.  Their  argument  was  precisely  that  used 
by  Mr.  Blaine  in  1890,  when  he  urged  that  the  Bering 
Sea  was  not  included  in  the  terms  of  a  treaty  which  re 
lated  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  American  reply  antici 
pated  Lord  Salisbury's  retorts  and  illustrations.  The 
Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Grulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  it  was 
said,  were  just  as  much  a  part  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  as 
the  Bay  of  Biscay ;  and  they  were  much  more  clearly  a 
part  of  the*  ocean  than  Long  Island  Sound,  into  which 
flowed  the  Connecticut  River, —  a  stream  conceded  on 
all  hands  to  be  one  of  those  which  were  wholly  within 
the  territory  of  the  United  States. 

But  the  Americans  drew  a  stronger  argument  from  a 
historical  examination  of  the  circumstances  attending 
the  framing  of  the  treaty  of  1783.  The  purpose  of  that 
treaty,  they  contended,  was  unmistakable.  Its  purpose 
was  to  confirm  to  the  United  States  all  of  the  territory 
of  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  to  leave  to  Great  Britain 
the  whole  of  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia.  If  this  were 
admitted,  the  rest  followed  at  once ;  for  the  southern 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  363 

boundary  of  Canada  had  been  fixed  by  a  royal  procla 
mation  of  October  7,  1763, —  just  after  the  conquest 
from  the  French, —  as  a  line  "  crossing  the  river  St. 
Lawrence  and  Lake  Champlain  in  forty  five  degrees  of 
North  latitude,"  and  then  passing  "along  the  High 
lands  which  divide  the  rivers  that  empty  themselves 
into  the  said  River  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall 
into  THE  SEA,  and  also  along  the  north  of  the  coast  of  the 
Bay  des  Chaleurs,"  etc.  The  treaty  of  1783  only  varied 
the  language  by  substituting  THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN  for 
THE  SEA.  If  this  was  not  meant  to  vary  the  meaning 
(and  there  was  no  evidence  of  any  purpose  to  enlarge 
the  boundaries  of  Canada),  then  it  was  plain  that  the 
head  waters  of  both  the  St.  John  and  the  Restigouche 
must  be  within  American  soil,  and  that  the  north  line 
must  run  its  143  miles  up  to  a  point  almost  within 
sight  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  debate  dragged  on 
with  much  wearisome  iteration,  and  without  any  more 
satisfactory  conclusion  than  that  the  treaty  of  1783 
was  "inexplicable  and  impracticable."  The  contro 
versy  has  long  since  been  compromised,  and  looking 
back  at  it  now,  free  from  the  passion  and  prejudice 
which  it  aroused  while  still  unsettled,  one  sees  no 
difficulty  either  in  explaining  or  enforcing  the  treaty. 
The  British  Government  in  1763  had  deliberately  in 
tended  to  include  in  Canada  only  the  basin  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  to  which  the  French  population  was  con 
fined.  The  confirmation  of  existing  bounds,  which  was 
the  simple  principle  underlying  the  whole  of  the  treaty 
of  1783,  plainly  required  the  same  line  to  be  run.  How 
near  that  line  might  come  to  the  St.  Lawrence  was  not 
known  to  any  of  the  negotiators,  and  it  can  hardly  have 
been  a  circumstance  which  they  took  into  account.  No 


364  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

one  to-day  can  doubt  that  in  this  dispute  the  United 
States  had  right  on  their  side.1 

The  controversy  about  the  northwesternmost  head 
of  the  Connecticut  River  was  of  minor  importance.  It 
turned  upon  surveys  of  several  rivulets,  any  one  of 
which  might  perhaps  fairly  be  looked  upon  as  furnish 
ing  the  important  source. 

A  third  point  arose,  most  fortunately  for  British  in 
terests,  based  this  time  upon  perfectly  indisputable 
facts.  The  line  of  45°  north  latitude  had  been  run, 
about  1766,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Connecticut, 
and  the  monuments  then  set  up  had  always  been  looked 
upon  as  fixing  the  unquestioned  northern  boundary  of 
New- York  and  Vermont.  Just  where  the  line  crossed 
Lake  Champlain  lay  Rouse's  Point,  and  there  the  Grov- 
ernment  of  the  United  States  had  gone  to  great  expense 
in  fortifying  what  was  considered  in  that  day  a  most  val 
uable  strategic  position.  It  was  worth  a  whole  wilder 
ness  of  pine  timber,  and  no  one  had  ever  doubted  that 
it  lay  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  The  fact 
was,  however, — and  it  was  first  ascertained  in  1818, — 
that  the  line  run  in  1766  was  grievously  in  error,  and 
every  stone  in  the  fortifications  was  really  upon  British 
soil.2  Nor  was  this  all;  for  the  old  line,  diverging  as  it 
ran  eastward  from  the  true  parallel  of  latitude,  added 
to  New- York  and  Vermont  some  hundred  thousand 
acres  which,  under  the  plain  words  of  the  treaty,  be 
longed,  without  a  doubt,  to  Canada. 

And  so,  at  the  beginning  of  1819,  the  northeastern 
boundary  question  stood  thus :  The  line  had  been  run 

1  See  u  The  Boundaries  Formerly  ceded,  so  far  as  the  northwest  angle 

in  Dispute,"  by  Sir  Francis  Hincks  of  Nova  Scotia  is  concerned. 

(Montreal,  1885),  wherein  the  justice  2  See  map  in  Winsor's  Narrative 

of  the  American  claim  is  fully  con-  and  Critical  History,  Vol.  VII. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  365 

from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  through  the  islands  of  Passa- 
maquoddy  Bay  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  and  up 
the  St.  Croix  to  its  source.  The  north  line  had  been  so 
far  surveyed  as  to  show  that  at  least  an  argument  might 
be  made  to  reduce  the  American  claims  in  that  quar 
ter.  The  northwestern  source  of  the  Connecticut  River 
was  in  doubt.  And  the  old  and  long-recognized  line 
west  of  the  Connecticut  had  been  shown  to  be  grossly 
incorrect. 

The  years  that  had  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  War 
of  1812  had  wrought  many  changes  in  Barclay's  family. 
His  youngest  daughter,  Ann,  had  married  Mr.  W.  B. 
Parsons,  a  retired  officer  of  the  Royal  Navy, —  a  mar 
riage  not  approved  by  her  parents,  but  which,  nev 
ertheless,  turned  out  well.  Of  the  sons,  Henry  and 
Anthony  had  also  married.  George  at  the  beginning 
of  1819  was  in  England,  where  he  had  recently  married 

—  having  gone  there  with  the  purpose  of  establishing 
himself  in  business.  Mrs.  Livingston,  the  eldest  daugh 
ter,  had  died.  The  house  at  Harlem  had  been  sold,  and 
Barclay  and  his  wife,  with  Mrs.  Livingston's  children, 

—  now  the  only  members  of  their  household, —  had 
again  taken  up  their  residence  in  New- York;  this  time 
at  No.  386  Greenwich  Street,  which  was  thenceforward 
to  be  their  home. 


FEOM   LORD   CASTLEKEAGH. 

Foreign  Office,  Sept.  4th,  1815. 
SIR: 

His  Royal  Highness  The  Prince  Regent  having  been  graci 
ously  pleased  to  name  you  to  act  as  His  Majesty's  Commissioner 
for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  4th  and  5th  Articles  of  the  Treaty 
of  Peace  and  Amity  concluded  at  Ghent  on  the  24th  December 


366       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

last,  with  the  United  States  of  America,  I  herewith  transmit 
to  you  His  Majesty's  Commission  under  the  Great  Seal  ap 
pointing  you  to  that  office. 

You  will  lose  no  time  in  preceding  to  St.  Andrews  in  Nova 
Scotia  where  the  Commissioners  of  both  Parties  are  by  the 
said  Treaty  appointed  to  meet. 

On  your  arrival  there  you  will  be  joined  by  Mr.  Chipman 
who  has  received  orders  to  accompany  you  in  the  capacity  of 
Agent  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty's  Government.  M.  la  Bou- 
chette1  will  accompany  you  as  Surveyor  of  the  boundaries 
which  it  is  intended  to  define  and  establish  by  the  Commission 
entrusted  to  you. 

In  case  the  Commissioner  who  is  to  act  with  you  on  the  part 
of  the  American  Government  should  not  have  proceeded  to  his 
destination,  His  Majesty's  Charge  d'Affaires  at  Washington 
will  be  instructed  to  press  his  departure,  so  that  no  time  may 
be  lost  in  the  execution  of  your  respective  Duties. 

Your  commission  embraces  Two  distinct  Objects  the  Nature 
of  which  the  enclosed  copy  of  the  4th  and  5th  Articles  of  the 
Treaty  will  demonstrate  as  well  as  the  mode  in  which  the 
Questions  at  issue  are  to  be  finally  arranged  between  you  and 
the  American  Commission. 

With  regard  to  the  regulation  of  your  conduct  in  bringing 
to  a  favorable  issue  the  first  question  namely,  whether  the  sev 
eral  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  and  in  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  belong  of  right  to  the  United  States  or  to  Great  Brit 
ain  j  it  may  be  necessary  that  you  keep  in  mind  (altho'  in  de 
ciding  upon  it  you  are  solely  to  be  led  by  the  Evidence  that 
will  be  adduced  in  favour  of  the  Claims  of  other  countries) 
that  His  Majesty's  right  to  those  Islands  is  supposed  to  be 
founded  on  the  Second  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783 
which  excepted  from  the  line  of  20  leagues  from  the  line  of 
Coast,  by  which  it  was  then  agreed  to  fix  that  side  of  the 

1  The  person  intended  was  Joseph  unsatisfactory  as  a  Surveyor  to  the 

Bouchette,  the  Surveyor-General  of  Commission.     He  died  in  1841,  hav- 

Canada,  who  was  at  this  time  in  Eng-  ing  published  several  valuable  works 

land  superintending  the  publication  on  the  topography  and  statistics  of 

of  one  of  his  books.  He  proved  most  Canada. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY 


367 


Boundary  of  the  United  States,  such  Islands  as  now  are  or 
heretofore  have  been  within  the  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia. — And 
that  the  Islands  in  question  did  come  within  the  Limits  of  that 
Province,  will  be  proved  not  only  from  the  Circumstance  of 
the  Jurisdiction  which  the  Government  of  Nova  Scotia  always 
was  in  the  habit  of  exercising  over  the  Inhabitants  up  to  the 
Peace  of  1783,  but  more  forcibly  from  the  fact  that  the  origi 
nal  Patent  or  Grant  (an  Extract  of  which  I  inclose)  of  the  said 
Province  made  by  King  James  the  5th.  to  Sir  William  Alexan 
der  in  1621,  after  tracing  the  Boundaries  of  the  United  States 
[sic]  in  it's  circumference  proceeds  to  include  in  it  all  Islands 
&c.,  within  Six  Leagues  of  any  part  of  that  circumference.1 


1  The  original  patent  is  in  Latin. 
The  important  parts  of  it  may  be 
thus  translated:  "We  have  given, 
granted  and  conveyed  and  by  the 
tenor  of  this  our  presentCharterwedo 
give,  grant  and  convey,  unto  the  said 
Sir  William  Alexander,  his  heirs  or 
assigns  whomsoever  in  inheritance, 
all  and  singular  the  lands,  continents 
or  islands  situate  and  lying  in  Ameri 
ca  within  the  headland  or  promon 
tory  commonly  called  Cap  de  Sable, 
lying  near  the  latitude  of  43  degrees 
or  thereabouts  north  of  the  equinoc 
tial  line;  from  which  promontory 
stretching  westwardly  along  the  sea 
shore  to  the  harbor  of  Saint  Mary, 
and  thence  toward  the  North  by  a 
straight  line  crossing  the  entrance 
or  mouth  of  that  great  bay  which 
runs  into  the  Eastern  tract  of  land 
between  the  countries  of  the  Suri- 
quois  and  Etcliemins  to  the  river 
commonly  called  St.  Croix;  and  to 
the  most  remote  spring  or  source 
which  from  the  western  part  of  the 
same  first  mingles  itself  with  the 
said  river ;  thence  by  an  imaginary 
straight  line  which  may  be  conceived 
to  go  through  the  land  or  to  run  to 


ward  the  North  to  the  nearest  har 
bor,  river  or  spring  emptying  itself 
into  the  great  river  of  Canada ;  and 
from  thence  extending  toward  the 
East  along  the  shores  of  the  same 
river  of  Canada  to  the  river,  harbor, 
port  or  shore  commonly  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  Gasliepe  or 
Gaspe  ;  and  from  thence  toward  the 
South  East  to  the  islands  called  Bac- 
calaos  or  Cap  Breton,  leaving  those 
islands  on  the  right,  and  the  gulf  of 
the  said  river  of  Canada  or  great  bay, 
and  the  lands  of  Newfoundland  with 
the  islands  to  the  said  lands  belong 
ing,  on  the  left ;  and  thence  to  the 
headland  or  promontory  of  Cap  Bre 
ton  aforesaid,  lying  near  the  latitude 
of  45  degrees,  or  thereabouts ;  and 
from  the  said  promontory  of  Cap  Bre 
ton  toward  the  South  and  West  to  the 
said  Cap  de  Sable,  where  the  peram 
bulation  began  ;  including  and  com 
prehending  within  the  aforesaid 
seashores  and  their  circumferences 
from  sea  to  sea,  all  lands  and  conti 
nents  with  the  rivers,  streams,  bays, 
shores,  islands  or  seas  lying  near  or 
within  six  leagues  of  any  part  of  the 
same  on  the  Western,  Northern  or 


368       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

It  cannot  also  have  escaped  your  recollection  that  in  the 
discussion  in  which  you  were  engaged  with  the  United  States 
in  1796  and  which  terminated  in  your  fixing  the  Mouth  of  the 
River  St.  Croix  at  Joes  Point,  the  point  now  at  issue  was  in 
some  degree  decided,  a  reference  to  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Commissioners  at  that  period  will  prove  that  the  objection 
made  to  that  decision  on  the  part  of  the  American  Agent  was 
that  he  [sic]  conferred  upon  Great  Britain  the  possession  of  the 
very  Islands  now  under  dispute,  and  he  on  that  ground  argued 
tho'  ineffectually  the  impropriety  of  the  decision  itself. 

The  Second  object  to  which  you  are  to  direct  your  attention 
relates  to  the  Boundary  which  is  to  be  determined  according 
to  the  5th  Art.  of  the  present  Treaty,  also  in  conformity  to  the 
Provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  1783. 

In  a  former  commission  with  which  you  were  charged,  you 
determined  one  of  the  doubtful  Points  connected  with  this 
part  of  the  Boundary  now  to  be  fixed,  namely,  which  was  the 
true  River  of  St.  Croix:  so  that  your  labours  will  now  begin 
from  the  source  of  this  River  with  a  view  of  continuing  and 
terminating  the  survey  as  therein  detailed  to  the  River  Iroquois 
or  Cataraguy. 

This  being  a  mere  operation  of  Survey,  it  will  not  be  neces 
sary  to  give  you  any  specific  Instructions  for  the  regulation  of 
your  Conduct  on  this  head.  It  will  therefore  only  remain  in 
general  to  enjoin  you  to  use  the  utmost  diligence  in  the  dis 
charge  of  the  important  Trust  now  committed  to  your  Care, 

Eastern  parts  of  the  said  shores  and  tire  and  free  dominion  and  barony 
precincts.  .  .  .  Moreover  we  of  our  to  be  called  in  all  future  time  by  the 
certain  knowledge,  mere  motion,  re-  aforesaid  name,  Nova  Scotia.  .  .  . 
gal  authority  and  royal  power,  have  And  even  if  any  questions  or  doubts 
made,  united,  annexed,  created  and  touching  the  interpretation  or  con- 
incorporated  ;  and  by  the  tenor  of  struction  of  any  clause  in  this  our 
this  our  present  charter  we  do  make,  present  Charter  should  arise,  all  such 
unite,  annex,  erect,  create  and  in-  are  to  be  taken  and  interpreted  in 
corporate  the  whole  and  entire  Prov-  the  most  ample  form  and  in  favor  of 
ince  and  lands  of  Nova  Scotia  afore-  the  said  Sir  William  Alexander  and 
said  with  all  their  limits,  seas,  &c,  his  heirs." 

offices    and    jurisdictions    and   all  A  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of 

other  things  generally  and  particu-  St.  Mary's  Bay  to  the  mouth  of  the 

larly  above  mentioned,  into  one  en-  St.  Croix  just  touches  Grand  Menan. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  369 

as  well  as  the  nicest  and  most  minute  accuracy  in  fixing  and 
determining  the  Lines  of  the  said  Boundaries,  so  that  no  room 
may  remain  for  any  doubts  in  future  on  that  Matter. 

You  will  keep  me  regularly  informed  of  the  progress  of  the 
Commission  with  which  you  are  charged  as  well  as  of  any  oc 
currences  which  may  come  within  your  knowledge  and  which 
it  may  be  material  that  His  Majesty's  Government  should  have 
cognizance  and  you  will  not  fail  to  communicate  with  His  Ma 
jesty's  Minister  at  Washington  on  any  Matters  that  may  be 
for  the  good  of  His  Majesty's  Service. 

I  am  &c. 

CASTLEREAGH. 


FEOM  LOED   CASTLEREAGH. 

Foreign  Office  Septr.  4,  1815. 
SlR? 

In  consequence  of  your  having  received  the  appointment  of 
which  a  communication  has  been  made  to  you  in  my  Instruc 
tion  No.  1  of  this  date,  I  am  to  inform  you  that  it  is  His 
Royal  Highness  The  Prince  Regent's  Pleasure  that  your  ap 
pointment  as  His  Majesty's  Consul  General  in  the  State  of 
New  York  should  cease  on  the  Quarter  ending  the  5th  of  July 
next :  But  that  the  same  allowance  be  continued  to  you  from 
that  Period  in  your  new  capacity  of  His  Majesty's  Commis 
sioner  for  the  Execution  of  the  4th  and  5th  Articles  of  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent.1 

In  addition  to  your  regular  Allowances,  you  will  be  author 
ized  to  draw  upon  this  office  for  the  actual  expense  of  Journies 
to  which  you  may  be  exposed  by  moving  from  Place  to  place 
in  the  Execution  of  your  Functions  taking  care  to  transmit  to 
this  Office  the  proper  Vouchers  for  such  Expenditure. 

Should  it  however  be  understood  between  you  and  the  Com 
missioner  on  the  part  of  America  that  such  Expenses  as  well 
as  all  others  attending  the  said  Commission  are  to  be  defrayed 

1  The  salary  was  at  this  time  £1600    deductions  than  during  the  stress  of 
a  year;  and  it  appears  to  have  been    the  Napoleonic  wars, 
paid  more  regularly  and  with  fewer 
24 


370        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

equally  by  the  two  Parties  in  pursuance  of  the  Provision  which 
is  made  in  the  8th  Art.  of  the  said  Treaty  you  will  conform  to 
that  arrangement. 

For  the  further  regulation  of  your  conduct  on  this  subject, 
I  herewith  inclose  a  Copy  of  the  receipt  signed  by  Mr.  Munroe 
on  the  exchange  of  the  Ratifications  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  in 
which  is  inserted  a  declaration  that  the  Principles  which  were 
observed  in  carrying  into  Execution  the  Treaty  of  1794,  are  to 
be  followed  in  this  Instance. 

I  am  &c., 

CASTLEREAGH. 


TO  LOED   CASTLEEEAGH. 

New  York  10th  August  1816. 
MY  LORD, 

It  was  not  before  the  7th  of  this  month,  by  the  June  Packet 
from  Falmouth  that  I  had  the  Honor  to  receive  your  Lord 
ships  Letters  Nos.  1  and  2  of  the  4th  of  September  last  inform 
ing  me  that  His  Royal  Highness  The  Prince  Regent  had  been 
graciously  pleased  to  name  me  to  act  as  His  Majesty's  Commis- 
sionor  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  4th  and  5th  Articles  of 
the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Amity  concluded  at  Ghent  on  the  24th 
of  December  1814  with  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that 
your  Lordship  had  by  the  same  conveyance  transmitted  to  me 
His  Majesty's  Commission  under  the  Great  Seal  appointing 
me  to  that  office. 

I  beg  leave  respectfully  to  assure  your  Lordship  that  I  am 
duly  sensible  of  this  further  mark  of  His  Majesty's  most  gra 
cious  condescencion  and  favor,  and  I  in  treat  you  will  be  pleased 
to  lay  my  most  humble  acknowledgement  at  the  Feet  of  His 
Royal  Highness  The  Prince  Regent  for  this  gracious  Testimony 
of  His  Royal  Confidence.  It  shall  be  my  study  not  to  render 
myself  unworthy  of  it. 

The  instant  I  received  your  Lordships  Letters  and  my  Com 
mission,  I  transmitted  copies  of  your  No.  1  and  of  the  Com 
mission  to  His  Majestys  Minister  at  Washington  and  requested 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  371 

him  to  communicate  the  purport  thereof  to  the  American 
Government,  and  to  propose  that  a  meeting  should  take  place 
between  the  American  Commissioner  or  Commissioners  and 
myself  at  St.  Andrews  in  New  Brunswick  on  the  16th  of  Sep 
tember.  This  was  as  early  a  day  as  could  with  safety  be 
named,  under  the  circumstances  of  my  being  obliged  to  notify 
the  American  Government  of  my  appointments,  and  for  it  to 
send  directions  for  the  American  Commissioner  to  proceed 
without  delay  so  as  to  meet  me  at  St.  Andrews  on  the  16th  of 
next  month.  I  have  in  like  manner  requested  Mr.  Chipman 
the  Agent  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty  to  be  at  St.  Andrews  on 
that  day.  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  Mr.  La  Bouchette's  arrival 
in  America.  His  presence  however  is  not  indispensibly  ne 
cessary  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Commissioners.  Your  Lord 
ships  remarks  with  respect  to  the  Islands  in  Passamaquoddy 
Bay  and  the  Principles  on  which  His  Majesty's  claim  to  those 
Islands  is  founded  are  in  my  opinion  perfectly  correct,  and 
such  as  cannot  be  controverted.  I  am  apprehensive  it  will  be 
difficult  for  His  Majestys  Agent  to  support  with  equal  evidence 
His  Majesty's  claim  to  the  Island  of  Grand  Man  an  in  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  an  island  of  far  more  national  importance,  than  any 
of  the  others.  On  this  point  and  on  the  5th  Article  of  the 
Treaty  I  shall  take  the  Liberty  of  communicating  more  fully 
with  your  Lordship. 


TO  LOED   CASTLEBEAGH. 

New  York  12th  August  1816. 
MY  LORD, 

In  my  Letter  No.  1  of  the  10th  Current,  I  stated,  that  I 
should  do  myself  the  Honor  more  fully  to  communicate  with 
your  Lordship  on  His  Majesty's  claim  to  the  Island  of  Grand 
Manan,  and  on  the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  1783  between  His  Majesty  and 
the  United  States  of  America  all  Islands  that  were  at  the  time 
of  that  Treaty,  or  theretofore  had  been  within  the  Limits  of 
the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  were  reserved  to  His  Majesty. 


372       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

In  order  to  support  His  Majesty s  claim  to  Grand  Manan,  the 
most  valuable  of  these  Islands  it  is  necessary  to  ascertain 
and  establish  the  most  extensive  westerly  Bounds  at  any  time 
heretofore  prescribed  to  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  The 
Boundaries  of  this  Province  have  from  time  to  time  been  vari 
ously  described  from  the  original  Grant  to  Sir  "William  Alex 
ander  to  the  year  1773. 

The  Grant  of  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  to  Sir  William 
Alexander  in  the  year  1621  is  the  most  ancient  and  contains 
the  most  formal  Description  of  the  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia,  and 
in  point  of  authority  is  superior  to  any  subsequent  act  of  His 
Majesty  or  His  Eoyal  Predecessors  in  which  the  Limits  of  that 
Province  are  defined. 

In  His  Majesty s  Commission  to  Montague  Wilmot  Esqr  as 
Governor  of  Nova  Scotia  the  ancient  Western  limits  of  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia  are  described,  and  it  appears  an  alter 
ation  was  then  made  with  respect  to  the  western  Boundary 
Line,  in  the  words  following,  "and  to  the  Westward  although 
our  said  Province  hath  anciently  extended  and  doth  of  right 
extend  as  far  as  the  River  Pentagoet  or  Penobscot  it  shall  be 
bounded  by  a  line  drawn  from  Cape  Sable  across  the  entrance 
of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  mouth  of  the  River  St.  Croix"  &c., 
&c.  I  understand  this  alteration  was  made  by  His  Majesty  in 
council  in  the  year  1763.  The  order  I  have  not  seen.  It  cannot 
be  doubted,  but  that  His  Majesty  in  council  at  the  period  of  al 
tering  the  Western  Bounds  of  Nova  Scotia,  had  before  him  some 
legal  documents  by  which  the  original  Bounds  of  Nova  Scotia, 
to  which  the  order  refers,  had  been  established,  to  wit  West 
ward  to  the  River  Penobscot.  What  appears  in  the  order  of 
council  however  is  merely  by  way  of  preamble.  It  is  there 
fore  of  moment  that  His  Majesty  s  Agent  should  if  possible  be 
possessed  of  the  instrument  by  which  the  Western  limits  of 
Nova  Scotia  were,  as  is  stated  in  the  preamble  originally  estab 
lished  at  and  by  the  River  Penobscot.  Perhaps  upon  a  search 
in  the  Council  Books  and  papers  or  in  the  proper  offices,  some 
clue  may  be  found  which  would  lead  to  the  discovery  of  this 
important  document.  As  there  is  no  trace  of  any  Grant  hav 
ing  been  made  by  His  Majesty  or  His  Predecessors  of  the 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  373 

Island  of  Grand  Manan  other  than  that  to  Sir  William  Alex 
ander,  and  which  is  constructive  and  in  some  measure  defect 
ive,  it  will  be  necessary  to  produce  the  next  best  evidence  that 
Grand  Manan  heretofore  was  within  the  Province  of  Nova 
Scotia.  This  can  be  done  by  showing  that  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  that  Province  so  far  exercised  a  right  over  that 
Island  as  to  grant  a  reservation  of  it  to  Lord  William  Camp 
bell  until  His  Majesty s  pleasure  should  be  known,  this  reser 
vation  was  made  in  the  year  1773,  and  is  an  evident  proof  that 
the  Government  of  Nova  Scotia  then  considered  it,  as  apper 
taining  to  that  Province.  Unless  therefore  it  is  shown,  that 
Massachusetts  at  that  time  or  previously  exercised  a  jurisdic 
tion  over  or  laid  claim  to  this  Island,  the  act  of  the  Governor 
and  Council,  I  humbly  conceive  must  be  considered  as  con 
clusive.  As  the  above  reservation  was  made  until  His  Majes- 
tys  pleasure  was  known,  it  is  to  be  presumed  his  Lordship 
petitioned  His  Majesty  to  grant  him  this  Island,  and  that 
something  was  done  upon  the  petition.  If  the  petition  and  the 
minutes  of  what  was  ordered  thereupon,  can  at  this  remote 
day  be  found,  they  would  perhaps  greatly  strengthen  the 
present  claim. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  it  will  be  attempted  to  support  the 
claim  of  the  United  States  to  Grand  Manan  and  the  Islands  in 
the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  by  the  limits  of  Nova  Scotia  as  de 
scribed  in  His  Majestys  Commission  to  Lord  William  Camp 
bell  in  1766  and  to  Francis  Legge  Esqr.  in  1773  as  Governor 
of  that  Province.  In  the  commission  of  the  latter,  the  fol 
lowing  is  a  description  of  the  Boundaries  of  Nova  Scotia : 
"  Bounded  on  the  Westward  by  a  Line  drawn  from  Cape  Sable 
across  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  mouth  of  the 
River  St.  Croix,  by  the  said  River  to  its  source  and  by  a  Line 
drawn  due  North  from  thence  to  the  Southern  Boundary  of 
our  colony  of  Quebec  to  the  Northward  by  the  same  Boundary 
as  far  as  the  Western  extremity  of  the  Bay  des  Chaleurs  to  the 
Eastward  by  the  said  Bay  and  the  Gulph  of  St.  Lawrence  to 
the  Cape  or  Promontory  called  Breton  in  the  Island  of  that 
name  including  that  Island  and  all  the  other  Islands  within  six 
leagues  of  the  coast  excepting  our  said  Island  of  St.  John 

24* 


374  CORRESPONDENCE   OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

which  we  have  thought  fit  to  erect  into  a  separate  Government 
and  to  the  Southward  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  the  said 
Cape  to  Cape  Sable  aforesaid  including  the  Islands  of  that 
name  and  all  other  Islands  within  forty  leagues  of  the  Coast." 
I  have  not  seen  an  extract  of  the  Commission  to  Lord  William 
Campbell,  but  Mr.  Chipman  His  Majesty's  Agent  writes  me, 
the  Boundaries  described  therein  are  the  same  with  those  in 
Sir  Francis  Legge's  commission.  From  these  commissions  it 
would  appear  that  the  Islands  within  six  leagues  of  the  coast  are 
confined  to  the  coast  on  the  Eastern  side  of  the  Province 
of  Nova  Scotia.  The  Commissions  refer  to  Islands  on  the 
East  and  South  sides  of  the  Province,  but  are  silent  with  re 
spect  to  those  on  the  West  Side.  I  attribute  this  to  inattention 
in  those  who  framed  the  commissions.  At  that  period  it  was 
not  perhaps  considered  necessary  to  be  critically  particular  in 
such  descriptions  in  commissions  to  Governors,  the  Limits  and 
appendages  of  the  respective  Provinces  had  been  declared,  but 
had  never  been  surveyed  and  defined  by  actual  measurement. 
His  Majesty's  Ministers  could  not  have  intended  to  take  these 
Islands  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Nova  Scotia  without  either 
erecting  them  into  a  distinct  colony,  which  would  have  been 
ridiculous,  or  annexing  them  to  the,  then,  Province  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Neither  of  these  was  the  case,  it  therefore  follows 
that  they  remained  part  or  parcel  of  Nova  Scotia  under  the 
Grant  to  Sir  William  Alexander.  Besides  it  required  express 
words  to  take  those  Islands  formerly  declared  to  appertain  to 
Nova  Scotia,  from  it :  and  your  Lordship  will  presently  per 
ceive  that  on  a  nearly  similar  occasion  in  contracting  the 
Western  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia  express  words  were  used  in 
the  commission  to  Governor  Wilmot. 

In  the  latter  part  of  your  No.  1  your  Lordship  is  pleased  to 
notice  in  reference  to  the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
that  this  being  a  mere  operation  of  survey,  it  will  not  be  neces 
sary  to  give  me  any  specific  instructions  for  the  regulation  of 
my  conduct  on  this  head.  The  running  of  a  Line  due  North 
from  the  source  of  the  Eiver  St.  Croix  is  certainly  a  simple 
operation,  but  from  all  that  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  it  is  very 
doubtful,  whether  Highlands,  such  as  will  satisfy,  the  second 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  375 

Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  1783,  and  to  which  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent  refers,  will  be  found  on  running  this  line.  I  am  not 
less  apprehensive  admitting  that  such  Highlands  correspond 
ing  with  the  Treaty  are  found,  that  a  question  of  no  small 
difficulty  will  arise  with  respect  to  which  rivulet  or  little  stream 
the  appellation  of  the  North  Westermost  Head  of  Connecticut 
River  is  most  applicable.  These  difficulties  removed,  the  re 
mainder  of  the  execution  of  the  5th  Article  would  be  plain  and 
easy.  I  cannot  however  refrain  expressing  my  fears  to  your 
Lordship  that  one  or  both  of  the  above  named  points  will  prove 
insuperable  to  the  Commissioners,  and  that  recourse  must  be 
had  by  a  referance,  on  the  reports  of  the  Commissioners,  to 
some  friendly  Sovereign  or  State;  or  some  amicable  adjust 
ment  of  the  line  take  place  between  His  Majesty  and  the 
United  States.  The  latter,  if  practicable  would  unquestionably 
be  most  eligible. 


TO  LOKD   CASTLEKEAGH. 

New  York  2  October  1816. 
MY  LORD. 

In  my  No.  1  of  the  10th  of  August,  I  stated  to  your  Lord 
ship  that  I  had  requested  Mr.  Bagot  His  Majesty's  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  at  Washington l  to  propose  to  the  American 
Government  that  the  American  Commissioners  under  the  4th 
and  5th  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  should  be  directed  to 
meet  me  at  St.  Andrews  on  the  16th  of  September  in  order  to 
proceed  on  the  Duties  expressed  in  our  respective  Commis 
sions,  and  the  proposition  having  met  the  concurrence  of  this 
Government,  I  proceeded  from  hence  to  Portland  in  the  Dis- 

1  Charles  Bagot  was  born  Septem-  a  remarkably  handsome  face ;  per- 

ber  23,  1781;  held  the  post  of  Brit-  fectly  well-bred,  and  of  dignified  and 

ish  Minister  in  Washington  from  the  gentlemanly  deportment.   .    .   .  No 

spring  of  1816  to  the  spring  of  1819;  English  Minister  has  ever  been  so 

became  Governor-General  of  Can-  popular ;  and  the  mediocrity  of  his 

ada ;   and  died  there  May  19,  1843.  talents  has  been  one  of  the  principal 

"Bagot,"  wrote  John Quincy  Adams,  causes  of  his  success."    Diary,  Vol. 

"  is  tall,  well  proportioned,  and  with  IV,  p.  338. 


376  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

trict  of  Maine  to  meet  Mr.  Holmes  the  American  Commis 
sioner  under  the  4th  and  Mr.  Van  Ness  the  American  Commis 
sioner  under  the  5th  Article  of  that  Treaty,  from  whence  we 
were  to  take  passage  for  St.  Andrews.  Owing  to  adverse 
winds  and  calms  we  were  delayed  several  Days  at  Portland, 
and  it  was  not  before  the  22d  of  September  that  we  landed  at 
St.  Andrews,  where  Mr.  Chipman  His  Majesty's  Agent  had 
been  several  days  waiting  our  arrival.  Mr.  Austin  the  Amer 
ican  Agent  came  with  the  Commissioners.  On  the  23rd  of 
September  the  commissions  were  opened  and  copies  under 
both  Articles  interchanged.  The  Commissioners  were  also 
sworn  agreeably  to  the  Treaty.  The  Agents  under  the  4th 
Article  were  then  called  upon  to  exhibit  their  claims,  and  pro 
duce  their  credentials.  The  American  Agent  delivered  a  for 
mal  commission  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  but 
Mr.  Chipman  exhibited  only  a  letter  from  Lord  Bathurst  His 
Majesty's  Principal  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonial  Depart 
ment.  The  American  commissioner  objected  to  the  Letter  as 
insufficient,  first  because  there  was  no  official  seal,  and  sec 
ondly  that  His  Lordship  had  not  expressed  his  official  charac 
ter  after  his  signature  to  the  Letter.  I  endeavored  to  remove 
both  these  objections  and  so  far  succeeded  as  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  the  American  Commissioners  to  proceed  to  busi 
ness,  under  a  promise  that  Mr.  Chipman  should  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Board  produce  a  more  official  appointment. 
Mr.  Chipman  will  write  Earl  Bathurst  on  the  Subject.  On  the 
24th  of  September  the  Agents  delivered  to  the  commissioners 
the  claims  of  their  respective  Governments  to  the  Islands  in 
the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  and  Bay  of  Fundy,  copies  of 
which  I  have  the  Honor  to  enclose.  The  Commissioners  re 
quested  to  know  whether  they  were  prepared  to  argue  and 
prove  their  claims,  and  if  not,  when  they  would  be.  The 
Agents  answered  that  they  thought  the  28th  of  May  as  early  a 
day  as  could  consistently  be  named  for  these  purposes.  The 
Commissioners  acceded  and  adjourned  from  St.  Andrews  to 
meet  at  Boston  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  on  the  28th  of 
May  1817. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  377 

No  Agent  appeared  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  under 
the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  nor  Surveyor  for  either 
nation.  By  the  words  of  the  Treaty  I  should  have  considered 
the  Commissioners  authorized  to  appoint  Surveyors  but  as 
your  Lordship  had  signified  to  me  that  Earl  Bathurst  had  ap 
pointed  Colonel  Bouchette  Surveyor  on  the  part  of  His  Maj 
esty,  I  declined  doing  so,  and  represented  to  Mr.  Van  Ness, 
the  American  Commissioner,  that  Col.  Bouchette  was  mo 
mently  expected  from  England  as  the  British  Surveyor.  Mr. 
Van  Ness  was  also  equally  convinced  with  myself  that  the 
Season  was  too  far  advanced  for  the  Surveyors  to  commence 
any  operations  this  Autumn.  The  best  informed  Inhabitants 
at  St.  Andrews  and  Robbins  Town  (the  American  side  of  the 
River  St.  Croix)  agreed  in  opinion  that  the  Surveyors  could 
not  commence  their  operations  before  the  month  of  June  next, 
owing  to  the  Bodies  of  snow  remaining  in  the  Woods  and  the 
Brooks  and  other  streams  being  overcharged  with  water.  It 
was  therefore  agreed  by  the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Arti 
cle  to  meet  at  Boston  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  to  direct  that  the 
Surveyors  attend  them  on  that  day,  at  that  place.  The  Agents 
are  to  be  directed  to  provide  Chain  Bearers,  ax  men,  and  per 
sons  to  carry  Provisions  &c.  &c.  also  to  purchase  the  necessary 
provisions.  The  conveyance  of  Provisions  will  I  fear  be  a 
matter  of  no  small  difficulty,  increasing  as  the  surveys  recede 
from  the  Rivers  St.  Croix  and  St.  John.  I  have  received  no 
information  of  Colonel  Bouchette's  arrival  in  America.  Should 
he  still  remain  in  England,  I  beg  leave  to  suggest  to  your  Lord 
ship  the  necessity  of  his  being  ordered  to  repair  to  Boston  with 
out  delay,  or  rather  to  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  so  that  he  may 
confer  with  Mr.  Chipman,  and  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
merits  of  the  Question,  previous  to  his  attending  the  Commis 
sioners  on  the  4th  of  June.  The  Surveyors  are  to  receive  pre 
cise  instructions  from  the  Agents,  and  general  Instructions 
from  the  Commissioners. 


378  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

FEOM  ME.    GOULBUEN.1 

Downing  Street 

March  14th  1817. 

(Private  &  Confidential.) 
DEAR  SIR, 

By  desire  of  Lord  Bathurst  I  take  this  opportunity  of  ac 
quainting  you  that  in  consequence  of  the  representations 
which  have  been  made  both  of  the  talents  of  the  persons  se 
lected  by  the  American  Government  to  make  the  survey  of  the 
Boundary  and  of  the  incompetence  of  Mr.  Bouchette  to  under 
take  an  accurate  astronomical  survey  His  Lordship  has  en 
tered  into  communication  with  Sir  Jos.  Banks 2  for  the  pur 
pose  of  procuring  the  assistance  of  some  Gentleman  of  great 
science  and  consequently  more  able  to  check  the  proceedings 
of  the  American  Surveyors.  He  was  in  hopes  that  such  a  per 
son  would  have  been  ready  to  proceed  by  the  present  packet 
but  as  this  is  unfortunately  not  the  case  I  am  desired  to  sug 
gest  to  you  the  propriety  of  deferring  if  it  be  possible  the  as 
tronomical  part  of  the  survey  until  time  can  be  given  for  the 
arrival  of  such  a  Gentleman  in  America.  The  proceedings  of 
the  Commissioners  need  not  be  deferred  on  this  account  as  the 
other  parts  of  the  survey  may  be  proceeded  in  without  waiting 
his  arrival. 

I  have  &c. 

HENRY  GOULBURN. 

TO   LOED   CASTLEEEAGH. 

Boston,  State  of  Massachusetts,  5th  June,  1817. 
MY  LORD. 

During  the  preceeding  Winter  I  requested  Mr.  Chipman,  His 
Majesty s  Agent,  who  resides  at  St.  John  in  the  Province  of 

1  Henry  Goulburn  was  one  of  the  burn's  entire  want  of  control  over 
British  Commissioners  at  Ghent,  his  temper,  and  the  insulting  man- 
where  his  manner  and  tone  seem  to  ner  of  his  speech.  He  was  Under- 
have  been  particularly  offensive  to  Secretary  for  the  Colonies, 
the  Americans.  J.  Q.  Adams,  in  his  2  The  President  of  the  Royal  So- 
diary,  repeatedly  refers  to  Goul-  ciety. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  379 

New  Brunswick  to  meet  me  at  this  place  on  the  20th  of  May, 
one  week  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  under 
the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  that  I  might  examine 
the  Arguments  and  evidence  he  had  prepared  to  deliver  to  the 
Board  in  support  of  His  Majesty s  claim  to  the  Islands  in  the 
Bays  of  Fundy  and  Passamaquoddy.  A  severe  fit  of  the  Gout 
prevented  his  arriving  at  the  time  appointed  and  subsequent 
to  his  recovery  contrary  winds  detained  him  until  the  second 
instant.  The  succeeding  day  the  Board  proceeded  to  Business, 
and  is  now  progressing  with  industry.  The  arguments  on 
the  part  of  both  nations  will  I  hope  be  read  over  by  the  12th 
current,  that  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  is  unnecessarily 
diffuse ;  after  which  the  Agents  will  require  some  time  to  pre 
pare  replies  each  to  the  others  arguments,  so  that  a  short  ad 
journment  will  probably  take  place.  Mr.  Chipman  has  at  my 
request  introduced  in  his  memorial  the  Arguments  used  by 
Comrs.  Shirley  and  Milday  in  their  negotiations  at  Paris  in 
1750  and  the  extract  of  the  council  minutes  in  1763,  although 
he  is  of  opinion,  in  which  I  concur,  that  the  claim  on  the  part 
of  His  Majesty,  must  and  will  eventually  rest  on  the  Grant  to 
Sir  Win.  Alexander  in  1621.  I  confess  my  principal  induce 
ment  for  incorporating  in  the  present  case,  the  Arguments 
used  by  the  Commissioners  at  Paris  in  1750,  is  founded  more 
on  the  effect  it  may  produce  on  the  friendly  Power  to  whom 
the  case  may  be  referred,  in  the  event  of  the  Commissioners 
not  being  able  to  agree  in  a  decision,  than  on  the  Commission 
ers  in  the  first  Instance. —  I  am  satisfied  that  your  Lordship  is 
Master  of  the  Subject  and  will  not  therefore  trouble  you  sug 
gesting  my  reasons  on  this  point. 

On  the  4th  of  June  the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article 
of  the  Treaty  met  agreeably  to  adjournment  in  September; 
and  the  Agents  are  preparing  instructions  for  the  Surveyors, 
who  will  leave  this  in  a  few  days  for  the  Source  of  the  River 
St.  Croix  and  commence  running  the  due  North  Line  and  en 
deavor  to  establish  the  North  West  Angle  of  Nova  Scotia.  It 
is  proposed  that  an  exploring  party  be  sent  forward  to  endea 
vor  to  discover  the  Highlands,  while  the  Surveyors  are  pro 
ceeding  under  the  more  dillatory  process  of  actual  admeasure- 


380        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

merit.  The  American  Commissioner  was  anxious  that  the 
ascertaining  of  the  Boundaries  should  commence  at  the  River 
Cataraqui  on  the  parallel  of  the  45  Degree  of  North  Latitude  j 
but  having  received  directions  from  Earl  Bathurst  to  delay  as 
tronomical  observations  until  a  Gentleman  who  he  would  send 
from  England  for  that  particular  service  arrived,  I  opposed  his 
proposition  and  succeeded  in  limiting  the  operations  to  com 
mence  at  the  Source  of  the  St.  Croix  where  simple  surveying 
alone  be  necessary.  I  fear  the  survey  and  entire  observation 
will  occupy  much  time,  and  I  am  not  less  apprehensive  of 
great  difficulty  in  establishing  the  real  Highlands  and  North- 
westermost  Source  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver  named  in  the 
Treaty. 

TO  LOED   CASTLEEEAGH. 

New  York  25th  June  1817. 
MY  LORD. 

Referring  your  Lordship  to  my  No.  4  of  the  5th  Current,  I 
have  the  honor  to  acquaint  you  that  after  the  Agents  of  both 
nations  under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  had  re 
spectively  read  their  agreements  to  the  Commissioners  and  de 
livered  them  to  the  Secretary  His  Majesty's  Agent  requested 
an  adjournment  of  the  Board  to  the  25th  of  September,  to  en 
able  him  to  reply  to  the  case  made  out  by  the  Agent  of  the 
United  States,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Commissioners  on 
the  13th  Instant  adjourned  to  meet  at  Boston  on  the  25th  of 
September  to  hear  the  Agents  of  both  nations  in  reply  each 
to  the  other. 

The  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  of  that  Treaty,  un 
der  an  impression  that  it  would  expedite  the  Business,  have 
appointed  two  sets  of  Surveyors  as  suggested  in  my  No.  4  to  your 
Lordship,  who  were  to  leave  Boston  with  their  respective  chain 
Bearers  and  ax  men  &c.  &c  on  the  22d  Instant  for  the  source 
of  the  River  St.  Croix,  from  whence  they  are  to  commence 
their  operations.  They  are  furnished  with  such  instructions 
as  the  Commissioners  and  Agents  considered  necessary.  On 
the  14th  instant  the  commissioners  under  this  Article  adjourned 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  381 

to  the  5th  of  May  next  to  New  York,  unless  an  intervening 
meeting  may  be  necessary,  when  the  commissioners  of  either 
nation  (by  agreement)  may  name  a  day  and  place  for  such 
meeting.  This  I  am  led  to  think  is  improbable,  as  the  Survey 
ors  will  not  have  progressed  so  far  as  to  render  such  meeting 
necessary,  before  winter  will  impede  all  Field  operations,  there 
being  little  more  than  four  months  in  that  part  of  America, 
wherein  Surveyors  can  be  employed. 


TO   ME.   OGILVY. 

New  York  27th  June  1817. 
MY  DEAR  SIR. 

By  this  morning's  Post,  I  received  a  Packet  of  Letters  from 
Boston,  (which  arrived  there  after  I  had  left  it)  in  which  was 
your  favor  of  the  10th  instant.  I  will  cheerfully  give  you  my 
sentiments  on  the  subject  you  have  suggested,  and  beg  you 
will  at  all  times  freely  command  my  best  services.  General 
Porter  is  in  part  right  in  saying  that  it  is  customary  with  Am 
bassadors,  Ministers  Plenipotentiary,  Commissioners  and  all 
other  official  characters,  while  transacting  business  with  Gen 
tlemen  of  the  same  official  Denomination  belonging  to  other 
nations  invariably  to  name  their  own  King  or  Government 
first.  For  instance  in  official  letters  of  any  other  official  acts 
emanating  from  General  Porter  to  you  wherein  he  makes  men 
tion  of  both  nations,  it  is  due  to  his  own  to  name  it  first.  With 
respect  to  the  Journal  (which  appears  to  be  the  object  of  the 
present  difference  of  opinion  between  you  and  him)  I  am  of 
opinion  both  you  and  he  are  under  an  error  and  that 
neither  of  you  are  to  keep  the  Journal  or  a  duplicate  of  it,  but 
that  the  Journal  is  to  remain  with  the  Secretary  who  is  the 
proper  officer  and  in  whose  custody  all  papers  filed  are  to  re 
main.  There  can  be  but  one  Journal.  You  may  have  as  many 
copies  as  you  please  of  it,  but  if  any  of  them  vary  from  the 
original  Journal  they  must  be  corrected  by  it.  It  is  usual 
with  Commissioners  to  have  the  proceedings  of  the  day  entered 


382       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

on  loose  paper,  and  every  day  the  last  thing  the  Board  does 
before  adjournment  is  to  make  the  Secretary  read  the  proceed 
ings  to  prevent  omissions  or  mistakes,  or  correct  the  mode  of 
expression.  On  the  adjournment  of  the  Board,  the  Secretary 
immediately  enters  the  proceedings  of  the  day  in  his  Journal, 
verbatim  from  the  loose  minutes,  and  at  the  next  meeting  of 
the  Board  before  they  proceed  to  Business,  one  of  the  Com 
missioners  examines  the  Journal  of  the  preceding  day  with  the 
Secretary  who  reads  aloud  the  proceedings  from  the  minutes. 
If  this  mode  is  adhered  to  no  mistake  can  be  made.  The  Sec 
retary  should  carefully  file  all  these  loose  minutes. 

I  come  now  to  the  main  object  stated  in  your  Letter,  to  wit, 
the  alternately  or  occasionally  naming  the  United  States  of 
America  before  His  Britannic  Majesty  in  the  Journal,  for  as  I 
have  before  noticed  there  can  be  but  one  Journal.  It  will  be 
best  answered  by  two  or  three  Questions  and  answers.  Ques.  ? 
Under  what  authority  did  His  Majesty  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America  nominate  you  Gentlemen  Commis 
sioners.  Answer.  Under  the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Amity 
concluded  at  Ghent  the  24th  of  December  1814.  Q.  In  the 
caption  of  that  Treaty  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Treaty, 
who  is  first  named,  His  Britannic  Majesty,  or  the  United  States 
of  America.  A.  His  Britannic  Majesty  without  an  exception. 
Q.  If  the  Commissioners  who  drew  up  and  concluded  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent  invariably  named  His  Britannic  Majesty,  be 
fore  the  United  States  of  America,  ought  not  the  Commis 
sioners  who  are  now  acting  under  the  6th  and  7th  Articles  of 
that  Treaty  to  adopt  the  same  rule.  A.  Unquestionably. — 
Is  it  not  customary  to  name  the  older  first,  especially  when  he 
stands  as  Parent.  A.  Certainly. — 

In  the  Journals  of  the  Commissioners  under  the  4  and  5 
Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  His  Majesty's  Commissioner 
is  always  first  named.  It  was  so  also  under  the  Commission 
of  1796.  It  never  became  a  Question,  because  the  Language 
of  the  Treaty  was  adopted. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  383 

TO   THE    COMMISSIONEES    UNDER.  THE    SIXTH   AND   SEVENTH 
AETICLES   OF   THE   TREATY   OF   GHENT. 

New  York  14  July  1817. 
SIRS. 

I  yesterday  received  a  Letter  from  Mr.  Orne,  Secretary  to 
the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  con 
cluded  at  Ghent  in  December  1814,  between  His  Britannick 
Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  enclosing  a  copy 
of  a  resolution  passed  by  your  Board  on  the  3d  of  June,  on 
the  subject  of  ascertaining  the  point  at  which  the  45  degree 
of  North  Latitude,  continued  West  from  the  North westermost 
head  of  the  Connecticut  river  strikes  the  River  Iroquois,  or 
Cataraquy.  That  as  the  establishing  this  was  an  object  equally 
the  duty  of  the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  of  the 
Treaty,  as  well  of  you  Gentlemen  Commissioners  under  the 
6th  &  7th  Articles,  it  was  desirable  that  they  cooperated  with 
you  in  ascertaining  and  establishing  the  same  j  and  that  you 
proposed  "  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Boards  with  the  Astrono 
mers  employed  by  them  respectively  should  be  held  at  or  in 
the  vicinity  of  S*  Regis  as  early  as  it  may  suit  the  convenience 
of  the  Commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  for  the  purpose  of 
comparing  the  results  of  the  several  observations  made  under 
the  direction  of  the  respective  Boards  and  awarding  thereon  "j 
also  that  you  hoped  the  meeting,  if  acceded  to  might  not  be 
delayed  beyond  the  month  of  September. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acquaint  you  that  early  in  May,  I  re 
ceived  a  Letter  from  His  Majesty's  Colonial  Department  of 
State  dated  the  14th  of  March  last  informing  me  that  a  Gentle 
man  would  without  loss  of  time  be  sent  to  me  from  London  to 
execute  the  Astronomical  Parts  of  the  Service  enjoined  by  the 
5th  Article  of  the  Treaty,  and  directing  me  to  proceed  in  the 
meantime  on  the  surveys  which  form  another  part  of  the  service. 
In  June  therefore  when  the  Board  (under  the  5th  Article)  met 
at  Boston,  I  communicated  to  Mr.  Van  Ness,  my  brother  Com 
missioner,  the  purport  of  the  Letter,  in  consequence  of  which, 
we  immediately  detached  the  Surveyor  to  the  Source  of  the 
River  St.  Croix  with  directions  to  commence  and  proceed  in 


384       CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

running  the  due  North  Line,  and  it  was  agreed  by  Mr.  Van 
Ness  and  myself,  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  Astronomer  from 
London,  he  and  the  Astronomer  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  should  forthwith  proceed  to  establish 
the  Parallel  of  Latitude  directed  in  the  5th  Article  of  the 
Treaty.  The  Gentleman  has  not  yet  arrived,  but  is  momently 
expected. 

I  feel  assured  that  Mr.  Van  Ness  will,  as  well  as  myself, 
accept  the  polite  proposal  contained  in  your  resolution  of  a 
joint  co  operation  of  the  two  boards  in  ascertaining  a  point 
necessary  to  be  established  under  the  5th  and  6  articles  of  the 
Treaty. —  I  shall  by  this  days  mail  write  him  on  the  Subject 
and  request  him  to  communicate  to  you  his  determination. 
If  he  acceeds,  which  I  take  for  granted  he  will,  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Astronomer  from  England  I  will  immediately  proceed 
with  him  to  St.  Eegis,  there  to  meet  you  Gentlemen  and  Mr. 
Van  Ness  with  the  four  Astronomers  finally  to  establish  the 
Point  where  the  45th  degree  of  North  Latitude  extended  from 
the  North  Westermost  head  of  Connecticut  River  intersects 
the  River  Cateraquy. —  It  is  proper  for  me  to  add,  that  if  the 
arrival  of  the  astronomer,  should  be  delayed  beyond  the  1st  of 
September  (an  event  by  no  means  probable)  it  will  not  be  in 
my  power  personally  to  attend,  because  the  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  are  to  meet  at  Bos 
ton  on  the  25th  of  that  month;  but  I  will  notwithstanding 
send  on  the  astronomer  to  unite  with  Mr.  Ellicott *  in  ascer 
taining  the  parallel  of  Latitude,  which  will  in  all  probability 
be  confirmed  by  Mr.  Van  Ness  and  myself,  particularly  if  it 
accords  with  the  observations  and  results  of  the  two  Gentle 
men  now  employed  by  you  for  the  same  purpose  —  It  will  nat 
urally  occur  to  you,  that  it  will  be  prudent  for  Mr.  Ellicott  to 
remain  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Regis,  ready  to  commence  the 
astronomical  observations. 

1  Andrew  Ellicott    was    born    in  the  Federal  City.    In  1813  he  was 

Pennsylvania  in  1754.     He  was  em-  appointed  Prof  essor  of  Mathematics 

ployed  as  a  surveyor  by  the  U.  S.  at  West  Point,  a  post  he  held  until 

Government  on  various  occasions,  his  death  in  1820. 
notably  in  the  work  of  laying  out 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  385 

TO  ME.  VAN  NESS. 

New  York  25  August  1817. 
SIR 

I  have  the  Honor  to  acquaint  yon  with  the  arrival  of  Dr. 
Tiarks  His  Majestys  Astronomer  nnder  the  5th,  6th  and  7th 
Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  at  this  place  in  the  last  Packet 
from  England. 1  —  Mr.  Ellicott  the  Astronomer  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  is  also  at  present  in  this  City,  who  informs 
me  that  he  has  by  his  observations  established  the  point  where 
the  parallel  of  the  45  Degree  of  Latitude  strikes  the  River 
Cataraquy,2  and  that  his  duty  at  West  Point  at  present  pre 
vents  his  attending  Dr.  Tiarks  to  St.  Regis ;  he  adds  that  even 
was  it  in  his  power  it  would  be  unnecessary,  because  he  is  sat 
isfied  his  observations  and  their  results  are  correct,  and  that 
the  Season  is  so  far  advanced,  as  to  prevent  Dr.  Tiarks  doing 
anything  more  until  next  Spring,  than  ascertaining  whether 
the  point  established  by  him  (Mr.  Ellicott)  at  the  River  Cata- 
raquy  is  correct  or  not. 

Dr.  Tiarks  will  proceed  in  the  morning  for  St.  Regis  for 
this  purpose ;  should  you  differ  in  opinion  with  Mr.  Ellicott, 
and  prefer  having  an  Astronomer  to  observe  at  the  same  time 
with  Dr.  Tiarks,  to  proceed  to  send  him  to  St.  Regis,  perhaps 
you  may  wish  to  be  there  in  person.  It  is  not  in  my  power  to 
go  thither,  as  the  Commissioners  under  the  4th  Article  of  the 
Treaty  meet  at  Boston  on  the  25  of  September. 

Mr.  Ellicott  also  told  me,  that  at  the  request  of  the  Presi 
dent,  he  should  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  establish  and  run 
the  parallel  of  the  45  Degree  of  North  Latitude  as  early  in  the 
Spring  as  the  weather  will  permit.  I  beg  leave  to  add  that 
Dr.  Tiarks  will  be  ready  to  accompany  him. 


1  This  gentleman  was  a  Swiss  by  missioners  under  the  sixth  article  as 
birth.     Little  seems  to  be  known  of  the  starting-point  of  their  part  of 
him.     He  died  about  1830.  the  line.     See  their  award  published 

2  The  point  thus  established  by  in  Treaties  and  Conventions  of  the 
Mr.  Ellicott  was  adopted  by  the  Com-  United  States. 

25 


386  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO    LOED    CASTLEREAGH. 

New  York  2d  September  1817. 
MY  LORD, 

Your  Lordships  Letter  of  the  6th  of  June,  announcing  that 
I  should  shortly  be  joined  by  Dr.  Tiarks,  His  Majesty  astron 
omer  under  the  5th  and  6th  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  I 
have  had  the  Honor  to  receive. —  Dr.  Tiarks  has  since  arrived, 
and  gone  to  St.  Regis  on  that  part  of  the  Biver  St.  Lawrence 
designated  under  the  Treaty  of  1783,  by  the  name  of  the  Iro- 
quois  or  Cataraquy,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  parallel 
of  the  45  Degree  of  North  Latitude  which  strikes  that  River, 
as  reported  a  few  weeks  since  by  the  American  Astronomer 
Mr.  Ellicott  is  correct,  who  makes  to  correspond  within  two 
or  three  feet  of  Hollands  parallel  in  1768,  or  thereabout.  I 
regret  to  add  from  Mr.  Ellicott's  information  that  this  opera 
tion  will  occupy  the  whole  of  the  remainder  of  the  season  in 
that  cold  climate.  As  early  in  the  Spring  however  as  the 
weather  will  permit,  I  will  take  care  to  have  the  astronomers 
employed  in  establishing  the  parallel  of  Latitude  towards  the 
North  Westermost  head  of  the  Connecticut  River.  The  Sur 
veyors  are  now  engaged  in  running  the  due  North  Line,  and 
searching  for  the  Highlands  from  the  Source  of  the  River 
St.  Croix. — I  have  every  reason  to  hope  the  Arguments  of 
the  Agents  appointed  under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  will  be  closed  at  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  at 
Boston  on  the  25th  instant,  and  I  am  sanguine  in  my  expecta 
tion  that  the  result  will  prove  favorable  to  the  claims  of  His 
Majesty.  However,  as  it  is  possible  I  may  be  disappointed  in 
my  expectation,  I  shall  be  prepared,  as  far  as  anticipation  will 
permit,  with  my  report  in  the  event  of  our  disagreeing.  The 
report  I  am  fearful  will  be  more  than  ordinarily  long,  as  it 
will  contain  no  small  part  of  the  arguments  of  the  Agents,  as 
well  as  my  own  remarks. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  387 

TO   ME.   OGILVY. 

New  York  22  October,  1817. 
MY  DEAR  SIB, 

Your  letter  of  the  22nd  ult°  and  private  letter  of  the  same 
date  from  Rapid  Plat  Upper  Canada,  I  had  the  pleasure  to  re 
ceive  while  at  Boston  from  whence  I  returned  to  this  place 
yesterday.  I  was  so  much  engaged  while  there  during  a  short 
Session  as  not  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  reply  to  your  favor, 
I  therefore  avail  myself  of  the  first  moment  on  my  return. 

It  was  certainly  desirable  that  Dr.  Tiarks  should  have 
brought  out  with  him  all  the  instruments  necessary  for  the 
accurate  observations  committed  to  him  by  His  Majestys  Gov 
ernment,  indeed  he  did  bring  all  with  the  exception  of  the  Re 
fracting  Circle,  and  I  should  have  detained  him  at  this  place 
until  its  arrival,  had  not  Mr.  Ellicott,  the  American  Astron 
omer  told  Dr.  Tiarks  that  there  was  at  St.  Regis  such  an  in 
strument  appertaining  to  the  American  Government,  much  at 
his  Service,  and  that  he  would  write  to  General  Porter,  (or 
some  other  Gentleman  who  had  the  charge  of  it,  I  do  not  re 
call  which)  to  allow  Dr.  Tiarks  the  use  of  it.  I  am  happy  to 
learn  that  General  Porter  has  politely  directed  it  to  be  deliv 
ered  to  him,  and  hope  before  this  he  has  completed  his  obser 
vations  at  St.  Regis.  As  he  is  engaged  under  the  5  Article, 
it  is  proper  that  all  sums  necessary  for  that  Service  and  his 
expenses  should  be  paid  by  me,  his  drafts  therefore  on  me  will 
be  honored.  If  you  have  advanced  him  money,  let  him  draw 
in  your  favor  on  me  for  it. 

Scientific  men  are  generally  absent  in  character,  I  was  there 
fore  not  surprised  that  Dr.  Tiarks  had  forgotten  he  had  a  let 
ter  for  you  from  me,  nor  that  he  had  placed  it,  in  so  safe  a 
place  as  to  be  out  of  sight.  As  matters  have  turned  out,  it 
was  not  material.  He  appears  an  amiable  correct  character : 
of  his  abilities  I  have  no  doubt,  yet  let  me  add  I  am  not  com 
petent  to  decide. 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  contrary  to  my  ex 
pectation,  Mr.  Holmes  the  American  Commissioner  and  myself 
under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  have  come  to  a 


388       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

decision,  an  event  I  little  expected.  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Holmes 
to  add  that  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Business  committed 
to  him  and  me,  he  has  conducted  himself  with  candor  and 
Liberality,  and  although  much  argument  has  taken  place  be 
tween  him  and  me  previous  to  our  coming  to  a  decision,  it  was 
conducted  with  courtesy,  impartiality  and  perfect  good  hu 
mour.  The  decision  is  executed  on  paper  at  present,  for  fear 
of  accident  by  death  or  otherwise  to  him  or  me,  but  we  meet 
here  on  the  24th  of  November  to  execute  it  when  engrossed  on 
parchment  when  it  will  be  transmitted  to  both  Governments, 
and  duplicates  delivered  to  the  Agents.  I  may  safely  add  that 
no  commission  of  similar  magnitude  has  been  gone  through 
and  decided  in  so  short  a  period  and  at  so  trifling  an  expense. 
The  Agents  of  both  Governments  memorialed  the  Board  to  be 
further  heard  and  for  an  adjournment  to  next  Spring  for  them 
to  prepare  their  Arguments  by  way  of  rejoinder.  The  Com 
missioners  declined  acceeding  to  their  request,  under  a  convic 
tion  that  they  were  fully  possessed  of  the  merits  of  the  case 
submitted  to  them.  An  adjournment  of  the  Board  for  six  days 
took  place,  during  which  Mr.  Holmes  and  myself  conferred  in 
private  and  eventually  agreed  upon  a  decision.  In  doing  this 
some  little  has  been  yielded  on  both  sides.  This  in  my  opin 
ion  was  preferable  to  our  reporting  the  Grounds  of  our  differ 
ing  in  opinion  and  by  that  means  rendering  a  reference  to 
some  friendly  Sovereign  to  decide  necessary,  whose  decision 
in  all  probability  would  not  have  been  as  agreeable  to  both 
nations ;  and  a  measure  pregnant  with  delay  and  expense. 

On  the  opposite  page  is  the  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  foreign 
office,  from  which  you  will  perceive  Col.  Bouchette  is  no 
longer  to  act  as  surveyor  under  the  6th  &  7th  Articles  of  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent. 


TO   LOKD   CASTLEKEAGH. 

New  York  25  October  1817. 
MY  LORD. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  inform  your  Lordship,  that  the  Com 
missioners  appointed  by  virtue  of  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  389 

of  Ghent  met  at  Boston  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  pursu 
ant  to  adjournment,  on  the  25th  of  September  last  past,  to  hear 
the  Agents  of  both  Nations,  each  in  reply  to  the  others  Argu 
ments  delivered  to  the  Board  at  its  Session  in  June  last.  On 
the  first  of  October  the  agents  concluded  reading  their  Argu 
ments  and  on  the  2d  the  Commissioners  agreed  to  adjourn  to 
the  8th  of  the  same  Month,  under  an  impression  that  from 
the  Evidence  already  exhibited  by  the  Agents,  they  were  fully 
possessed  of  the  merits  of  the  Question  submitted  to  them,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  come  to  a  decision  thereon. 

I  had  previously  conferred  with  His  Majesty s  Agent  on  this 
point ;  who  concurred  in  opinion  with  me,  that  a  further  hear 
ing  of  the  Agents  by  rejoinder,  would  be  useless,  and  tend 
only  to  prolong  the  discussion  and  create  expense.  In  addi 
tion  to  this  I  was  aware  that  if  a  decision  was  not  made  on  or 
before  the  1st  of  December  ensuing,  another  Commissioner 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  must  be  appointed,  as  Mr. 
Holmes,  the  present  Commissioner  had  been  elected  a  member 
of  Congress,  and  by  the  Constitution  of  these  States,  he  would 
be  obliged  to  resign  his  appointment  as  Commissioner  prior  to 
his  taking  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  such 
an  Event  the  case  must  have  been  reargued,  and  the  proceed 
ings  necessarily  drawn  out  to  a  greater  length.  I  had  also 
reason  to  believe,  from  the  general  tenor  of  Mr.  Holmes'  con 
duct,  that  it  was  more  than  doubtful,  whether  another  Com 
missioner  would  possess  that  candor  and  Discrimination,  I  had 
in  every  instance  experienced  in  this  Gentleman. 

In  the  discussion  which  took  place  between  the  Commis 
sioner  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  myself,  in  the 
interval  from  the  2nd  to  the  9th  of  October,  I  endeavored  to 
convince  him,  that  by  the  express  words  used  in  the  Grant  of 
King  James  to  Sir  William  Alexander  in  1621,  to  wit,  "in- 
cludens  et  comprehendens  intra  praedictas  maris  oras  litto- 
rales  ac  earum  circumferentias,  a  mari  ad  mare,  omnes  terras 
continentes  cum  fluminibus,  torrentibus,  sinibus,  littoribus, 
insulis,  aut  maribus  jacentibus  prope  aut  infra  sex  leucas  ad 
aliquam  earundem  partem  ex  occidentali,  boreali,  vel  oriental! 
partibus  orarum  littoralium  et  praecinctuum  earundem,"  all  the 

25* 


390        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  and  the  Island  of  Grand 
Manan  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  were  included  within  the  Limits 
of  that  Grant.  For  that  although  a  line  drawn  from  Cape  St. 
Marys  (one  of  the  boundary  Lines  described  in  the  Grant  to 
Sir  William  Alexander)  to  the  Eiver  St.  Croix  would  not  in 
clude  all  the  Islands  within  it ;  still  a  parallel  Line  six  leagues 
distant  to  the  South  West  would  embrace  them  —  and  that  the 
Words  "  sex  leucas  "  referred  to  "  earum  circumf erentias  "  and 
"  praecinctuum  earundem,"  and  not  to  "oras  littorales"  nor 
"  orarum  littoralium." — That  the  Line  from  St.  Marys  Bay  to 
the  River  St.  Croix  was  the  "  circumf  erentias  "  and  the  "  prae 
cinctuum  "  mentioned  in  the  Grant,  and  that  the  "  sex  leucas" 
was  to  be  extended  from  that  Line  and  not  from  the  Coasts  or 
Shores  of  Nova  Scotia. —  To  this  the  American  Commissioner 
replied,  that  it  was  unnecessary  for  him  and  me  to  enter  upon 
the  construction  given  by  me  on  the  Words  of  the  Grant,  as 
the  Crown  had  decided  it  repeatedly  in  the  Commissions  to  the 
Governors  of  Nova  Scotia,  wherein  the  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia 
were  defined ;  and  he  referred  to  the  Commission  to  Montague 
Wilmot  Esqr.  in  1763,  wherein  all  Islands  on  the  North  and 
Bast  within  six  Leagues  of  the  Coasts,  are  declared  to  be 
within  the  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  to  the  Southward  all 
Islands  within  forty  leagues  of  the  Coast,  but  that  to  the 
Westward  no  mention  was  made  of  Islands  in  the  Commis 
sion  to  Mr.  Wilmot,  nor  in  any  other  of  the  Commissions  to 
the  Governors  of  Nova  Scotia ;  if,  therefore,  he  were  to  allow 
this  as  an  accidental  omission,  I  could  not  in  justice  require 
him  to  admit  more  than  was  given  on  the  North  and  East, 
which  would  be  all  Islands  within  six  leagues  of  the  Western 
part  of  the  Coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  that  this  would  comport 
with  the  Words  of  Sir  William  Alexanders  Grant  "infra 
sex  leucas  ad  aliquam  earundem  partem  ex  occidentali,  bore- 
ali  vel  oriental!  partibus  "  &c  &c  &c, — but  that  the  six  Leagues 
must  be  measured  from  the  Shores  and  Coasts,  and  not  from 
the  circumferences  of  the  Boundaries. —  I  suggested  that  the 
Commissions  were  generally  penned  in  haste,  by  Clerks  in  the 
public  offices,  and  intended  merely  as  instructions  to  Gov 
ernors,  not  as  Acts  which  were  to  bind  his  Majesty  on  other 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  391 

points  and  the  foreign  Powers ;  because,  if  Declarations  con 
tained  in  such  Commissions  could  not  bind  foreign  Powers,  it 
was  unreasonable,  that  the  Power  making  such  Declarations, 
and  possibly  with  private  views,  confined  to  its  own  Subjects, 
should  be  bound  thereby.  In  support  of  this  Doctrine,  I 
stated  several  cases,  and  in  some  measure  brought  the  Ameri 
can  Commissioner  to  think  there  was  not  so  much  weight  in 
his  objection,  as  he  originally  imagined.  I  assured,  and  en 
deavored  to  convince  him,  that  from  the  Evidence  before  the 
Board,  it  was  manifest,  that  all  Islands  in  question  were  in 
cluded  in  the  Grant  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  and  conse 
quently  appertained  to  His  Majesty;  and  called  on  him  to 
unite  with  me  in  decision  to  that  effect.  This  he  of  course  de 
clined  j  remarking  that  such  a  decision  would  deprive  the 
United  States  of  Moose  Island  and  the  two  adjoining  small 
Islands,  named  Dudley  and  Frederick,  which  had  been  de 
cided  to  them  by  the  Convention  or  Treaty  in  1803  and  by  the 
Supplemental  Treaty  in  1807,  neither  of  which  it  was  true  had 
been  ratified  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  but  that  they 
were  evidence,  that  Great  Britain  either  considered  these  Isl 
ands  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  or  was  willing  to  acknow 
ledge  them  as  such,  provided  the  United  States  would  relinquish 
claim  to  all  the  other  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy. 
He  added  that  although  he  was  determined  not  to  execute  a 
decision  whereby  all  the  Islands  in  question  were  to  be  ad 
judged  to  belong  to  His  Majesty,  yet  he  was  willing  to  come 
to  a  determination  which  should  comport  with  the  principles 
agreed  upon  by  Earl  Liverpool,  then  Lord  Hawkesbury,  and 
Mr.  King  in  1803,  and  by  Lord  Holland  and  Lord  Auckland 
and  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Pinkney  in  1807.  That  if  I  would 
not  consent  to  this,  he  was  ready  to  report,  jointly  or  sepa 
rately,  stating  the  points  on  which  we  differed,  and  the  grounds 
on  which  our  respective  opinions  had  been  formed,  and  to 
leave  it  to  the  two  Governments  to  refer  the  report  to  some 
friendly  Sovereign  or  State  for  decision, —  which  decision  could 
not  possibly  be  more  adverse  to  the  claims  of  the  United  States 
and  might  be  more  favorable,  than  that  I  had  proposed.  That 
where  nothing  more  could  be  lost,  and  something  might  be 


392        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

gained,  it  was  his  duty  to  refer  the  question  to  the  Tribunal 
pointed  out  by  the  Treaty  in  the  event  of  the  Commissioners 
not  coming  to  a  decision.  In  adjourning  for  that  day  (the 
5th  of  October)  I  communicated  the  substance  of  the  confer 
ences,  which  had  taken  place  between  the  Commissioner  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  and  myself,  to  His  Majesty's 
Agent.  His  opinion  coincided  with  mine  in  the  following 
particulars. — That  in  the  event  of  the  report  being  referred 
to  a  friendly  Sovereign,  it  would  naturally  be  placed  by  him, 
in  the  hands  of  one  of  His  Ministers,  or  Law  officers,  with  di 
rections  to  examine  the  reports,  and  to  recommend  the  deci 
sion  which  ought  to  be  made.  —  That  it  was  probable  that 
either  from  want  of  time,  or  other  cause,  the  attention  neces 
sary  to  form  a  correct  opinion  might  not  be  given,  or  that  the 
Arguments  in  the  report  might  not  be  fully  comprehended; 
and  that  such  Sovereign  being  called  upon  by  both  nations, 
in  the  character  of  a  Friend,  would  probably  adopt  the  Terms 
agreed  upon  (though  not  ratified)  by  the  two  nations,  in  the 
Convention  of  1803  and  supplemental  convention  in  1807. 
That  if  this  should  be  the  Line  pursued  by  such  friendly 
Power,  still  it  would  remain  a  matter  of  doubt  to  whom  it 
would  decide  the  Island  of  Grand  Manan  to  belong. —  That 
this  Island  was  of  more  value  to  His  Majesty,  in  point  of  Ter 
ritory,  than  all  the  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy; 
and  in  a  military  and  naval  Point  of  View  of  much  greater 
importance.  —  That  it  commands  the  North  West  Side  the 
Bay  of  Fundy,  is  immediately  opposite  that  part  of  the  Ameri 
can  Coast,  where  the  waters  which  pass  into  and  out  of  the 
Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  at  a  place  called  West-quoddy  passage 
and  —  that  His  Majesty  by  being  possessed  of  this  Island, 
would  have  it  in  his  power,  in  the  event  of  a  War,  to  prevent 
American  Privateers  from  sheltering  themselves  in  that  Pas 
sage  and  to  protect  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick  and  that 
part  of  Nova  Scotia  which  lies  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  —  That 
unless  the  six  leagues  should  be  measured  from  the  line  de 
scribed  in  the  Grant  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  from  St.  Marys 
Bay  to  the  River  St.  Croix,  this  Island  would  not  be  compre 
hended  within  the  Limits  of  Nova  Scotia,  but  only  a  small 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  393 

part  of  it, —  and  that  the  friendly  power  might  possibly  decide 
in  favor  of  the  United  States,  or  that  the  small  portion  of  it 
belonged  to  His  Majesty,  and  the  remainder  to  those  States  — 
that  either  event  would  be  extremely  prejudicial  to  His  Ma 
jesty's  Interest  —  that  in  the  number  of  unpleasant  conse 
quences  which  would  attend  a  reference  to  a  friendly  Sovereign 
or  State,  independantly  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  decision,  are  the 
time  it  would  occupy,  and  the  expense  attending  such  an  appeal. 
His  Majestys  Agent  further  agreed  with  me,  that  Moose 
Island  is  of  no  moment  to  His  Majesty.  It  had  never  been 
granted  by  him  to  any  of  his  Subjects:  on  the  contrary  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  had  granted  it  to  citizens  of  the 
United  States  —  admitting  that  the  friendly  Sovereign  should 
decide,  that  this  Island  did  belong  to  His  Majesty,  the  present 
Possessors  would,  on  taking  the  Oaths  of  Allegiance,  be  con 
firmed  in  their  titles  to  the  Lands  they  held,  while  their  senti 
ments  would  probably  remain  favorable  to  the  Interests  of  the 
United  States,  and  from  their  having  access  to  His  Majestys 
other  Territories,  would  in  time  of  War  have  it  in  their  power 
to  communicate  information  to  His  Majestys  Enemies.  That 
this  Island  lay  within  less  than  half  a  mile  of  the  American 
Shores,  and  consequently  was  at  any  moment  liable  to  be 
taken  possession  of,  unless  defended  by  strong  works,  and  a 
competent  Garrison  —  That  it  was  not  worth  this  expense, 
nor,  indeed  either  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  or  for  a 
fishery,  of  any  value  to  the  Crown. — That  Frederick  and  Dud 
ley  Islands,  adjacent  thereto,  were  merely  Rocks  in  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquoddy,  extremely  small  and  incapable  of  improve 
ment,  or,  indeed,  of  being  made  useful  in  any  manner  what 
ever.  If  an  amicable  decision  could  be  effected  by  giving 
Moose  Island  with  Dudley  and  Frederick  Islands,  its  natural 
appendages  to  the  United  States,  his  Majestys  Agent  thought 
it  would  be  an  advantageous  adjustment  on  the  part  of  His 
Majesty,  and  infinitely  preferable  to  leaving  the  question  to  be 
decided  by  a  friendly  Sovereign.  Accordingly  when  I  met 
the  American  Commissioner  on  the  6th  of  October,  I  stated  to 
him,  that  I  had  reflected  on  what  he  had  suggested,  and  not 
withstanding  my  conviction,  that  His  Majesty's  claim  to  all 


394       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  Islands  was  supported  by  incontrovertible  evidence,  that  I 
was  willing,  in  order  that  a  decision  might  be  made  in  prefer 
ence  to  a  report,  to  yield  up  a  part  of  the  Islands  claimed  by 
His  Majesty,  to  wit,  Moose  Island  and  Dudley  and  Frederick 
Islands,  on  condition  that  all  the  other  Islands  in  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquoddy,  and  Grand  Manan,  should  be  decided  to  be 
long  to  His  Majesty.  He  appeared  astonished  that  either  my 
self,  or  his  Majesty s  Agent,  had  ever  been  serious  in  the  claim 
for  Grand  Manan :  represented  its  lying  directly  opposite  the 
American  Shores,  and  without  the  Limits  of  Sir  William  Alex 
anders  Grant,  except  a  fractional  part  of  it ;  and  that  he  never 
could  consent  to  decide  that  this  Island  belonged  to  His  Maj 
esty.  To  these  remarks  I  replied,  by  declaring,  that  unless  he 
acceded  to  my  last  proposal,  the  appeal  should  be  made  to  a 
friendly  Sovereign  or  State.  Eventually  he  agreed  to  give  up 
Grand  Manan,  provided  I  would  add  the  Island  of  Campo 
Bello  to  the  three  I  had  offered  to  give  to  the  United  States. 
I  told  him  he  had  my  ultimatum,  an  ultimatum  I  had  brought 
myself  with  much  difficulty  to  offer,  while  under  a  conviction 
that  His  Majesty's  Title  to  Moose,  Dudley  and  Frederick  Isl 
ands  was  beyond  dispute — It  was  not  until  the  morning  of 
the  9th,  that  I  could  induce  the  Commissioner  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  to  agree  to  the  Terms  I  had  proposed,  and 
then  with  great  reluctance  and  apparent  Hesitation,  and  only 
on  condition  that  I  would  unite  with  him  in  a  Letter  to  both 
Governments,  expressive  of  our  opinion  that  the  Eastern  Pas 
sage  from  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  was  common  to  both 
nations.  This  letter  he  penned  while  I  wrote  the  decision,  but 
the  Letter  was  so  corrected  by  me,  as  to  render  it  a  mere  mat 
ter  of  opinion,  not  official,  on  the  part  of  the  Commissioners 
and  consequently  not  binding  on  either  of  the  nations.  Still 
I  beg  leave  to  observe  to  your  Lordship,  that  I  think  the 
United  States,  in  justice,  and  for  preserving  harmony  be 
tween  the  two  nations,  should  be  permitted  the  use  of  this 
Eastern  Passage,  or  outlet  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  enclose  herewith  a  copy  of  that  Letter, 
and  of  the  decision,  at  present  executed  on  paper.  As  the 
copying  of  the  Arguments  of  the  Agents,  and  of  other  papers 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  395 

required  some  Weeks,  we  adjourned  to  the  24th  of  November, 
then  to  re-execute  the  decision,  to  be  engrossed  on  Parchment, 
and  to  deliver  to  the  Agents  the  documents  directed  by  the 
Treaty :  all  which  will  be  done  before  the  close  of  that  month. 

It  would  be  withholding  a  Tribute  justly  due  to  the  Talents, 
Industry,  and  unremitted  attention,  of  Mr.  Chipman,  His 
Majesty s  Agent,  throughout  the  discussion  which  has  taken 
place,  and  to  his  prudence  in  securing  some  valuable  papers 
used  under  the  Commission  to  which  he  was  Agent  in  1796, 
did  I  not  state  to  your  Lordship  how  ably  he  has  advocated 
His  Majesty  s  claim.  This  declaration  in  his  favor  would  be 
unnecessary,  if  it  were  in  your  Lordship's  power  to  spare  the 
time  which  a  perusal  of  his  two  arguments  would  require. 

I  trust  your  Lordship  and  His  Majestys  other  Ministers, 
will  approve  of  the  decision,  whereby  the  United  States  ac 
quire  only  the  same  three  small  Islands,  intended  for  them  by 
the  unratifled  conventions  of  1803  and  1807,  while  not  only 
the  Title  to  all  the  other  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passama- 
quoddy,  in  like  manner  secured  to  His  Majesty  by  those  Con 
ventions,  is  confirmed,  but  the  Island  of  Grand  Manan  is 
declared  to  belong  to  His  Majesty;" — an  Island  justly  re 
marked,  in  a  preceding  part  of  this  Letter,  to  be  of  more  in 
trinsic  value  and  national  importance,  than  all  the  Islands  in 
the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy. 


TO  MB.   CHIPMAN. 

New  York  8th  November  1817. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  read  with  no  little  pain,  your  sons  Letter  to  you  of 
the  24th  of  October.  It  is  distressing  to  think  that  a  person,  so 
unequal  to  the  duty,  as  Col.  Bouchette  appears  from  his  rep 
resentation  to  be,  should  have  been  appointed  to  a  service, 
which  required  Talents,  as  well  as  professional  knowledge 
with  respect  to  the  practical  parts  of  the  Surveys.  Indepen 
dent  of  every  other  objection,  he  is  unfit  for  his  office,  if  he  is 
the  timid  Character  represented  by  your  Son  and  bullied  by 
the  American  Surveyor.  Ascertain  the  fact,  and  give  me  the 


396        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

earliest  information,  that  I  may  acquaint  Government. —  I 
was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find,  your  Son  attached  incom- 
petency  to  Mr.  Campbell,  as  well  as  Col:  Bouchette,  having 
always  understood  from  you,  that  he  was  fully  equal  to  run 
ning  a  plain,  simple  North  line.  If  the  fact  is  so,  another 
must  be  procured  by  you  to  supply  his  place.  Is  young  Mr. 
Odell  as  clever  and  competent,  as  your  Son  represents,  if  so 
write  me  officially  recommending  him,  and  I  will  request  Lord 
Castlereagh  to  appoint  him  in  the  place  of  Col :  Bouchette.  If 
Odell  looks  forward  to  succeed  his  Father,  or  to  the  future 
countenance  of  Government,  he  will  not  refuse  the  appoint 
ment.  No  time  is  to  be  lost,  let  me  therefore  hear  from  you  as 
early  as  possible. —  I  know  so  little  of  this  North  Line,  or  the 
consequences  which  will  follow  if  the  Eestigouche  is  adopted 
as  the  River,  whose  waters  empty  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence, 
that  I  can  form  no  opinion.  I  observe  what  you  notice  at  the 
foot  of  your  Letter  to  me  of  the  30*  ult°,  namely  that  the  River 
Restigouche  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  S*  Lawrence  by  the  Bay 
of  Chaleurs,  and  not  into  the  River.  This  is  a  decisive  objec 
tion,  should  it  hereafter  become  necessary  to  avail  ourselves 
of  it. —  Col.  Bouchette  however,  in  his  Letter  to  your  Son, 
speaks  of  the  intersection  of  the  Line  with  this  River  four 
miles  North  of  the  little  Wagansis,  as  advantageous  to  His 
Majesty,  as  Great  Britain  will  partake  in  all  the  advantages  of 
the  Portage. —  Is  he  correct  on  this  point. —  All  must  be  left, 
and  I  cheerfully  do  submit  it,  to  you,  who  are  as  it  were  on  the 
spot,  and  can  acquire  important  information  and  advice  from 
the  Surveyor  General  and  other  Gentlemen  well  informed  on 
the  Subject. —  On  this  Article  we  must  exert  ourselves,  and 
do  our  Government  the  Justice  it  merits.  I  feel  assured  it  is 
unnecessary  to  urge  you  or  your  Son  to  increased  exertions. 

TO   MK.   VAN   NESS. 

New  York,  3d  December  1817. 

SIR, 

Although  it  scarce  admits  of  a  doubt,  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  under  the  6th  &  7th  Articles  of  the 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  397 

Treaty  of  Ghent  lias  addressed  a  letter  to  you  containing  a 
resolution  of  that  Board  on  the  29th  of  October,  still  to  pre 
vent  the  possibility  of  your  not  having  received  it,  I  do  myself 
the  Honor  to  enclose  you  a  copy.  —  By  the  resolution  you 
will  perceive  that  these  Commissioners  are  to  meet  at  Hamil 
ton  on  the  15th  of  May  next  and  that  they  are  in  the  interval 
ready  to  receive  any  communications  from  you  and  me  relat 
ing  to  the  joint  meeting  of  the  two  Boards  to  establish  at  the 
River  Cateraquy  the  precise  point  where  the  parallel  of  the 
45  Degree  of  North  Latitude  intersects  that  River. 

If  I  recollect,  in  a  letter  I  received  from  you  during  last 
Summer,  you  hinted  an  opinion  that  neither  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  nor  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  1783  to  which  it  refers  gave 
any  directions  to  these  Commissioners  to  establish  this  pre 
cise  point.  In  this  I  agree  in  opinion  with  you :  but  as  they 
are  to  proceed  (under  the  5th  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent) 
from  the  middle  of  that  part  of  the  River  Iroquois  or  Catera 
quy  where  the  parallel  of  the  45  Degree  of  North  Latitude 
strikes  that  River,  it  becomes  important  to  them  to  know  the 
precise  spot  as  a  locus  a  quo  from  which  their  surveys  com 
mence.  If  this  parallel  is  ascertained  by  the  Astronomers  un 
der  the  two  Commissions  separately,  it  is  probable  there  may 
be  a  difference  of  a  few  feet  in  the  results  of  the  astronomical 
observations  in  which  event  there  would  be  two  points  estab 
lished  by  the  respective  Boards  as  the  parallel  where  the  45th 
degree  of  North  Latitude  where  it  strikes  the  River  Cateraquy. 
This  if  possible  should  be  avoided,  and  by  a  joint  meeting  of 
the  two  Boards  prevented.  Our  Board  stands  adjourned  to 
meet  at  New  York  early  in  May,  at  which  time  and  place  I  take 
for  granted  the  Surveyors  of  the  exploring  Party  will  attend 
as  well  as  the  Agents.  It  appears  to  me,  that  if  we  were  to 
change  the  place  of  our  meeting  to  Hamilton,  or  some  other 
convenient  place  near  St.  Regis,  and  direct  the  Secretary, 
Agents,  Dr.  Tiarks  and  Mr.  Ellicott  the  Astronomers  and 
Mr.  Bouchette  and  Mr.  Johnson  the  Surveyors  to  meet  us 
there,  it  would  be  attended  with  little  trouble  or  difficulty  to 
them,  indeed  I  conceive  that  I  will  be  the  only  person  materi 
ally  inconvenienced.  By  this  measure  we  shall  be  on  the  spot, 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

and  can  arrange  with  the  other  commissioners  the  point  of  in 
tersection,  while  we  can  at  the  same  time  receive  the  reports  of 
the  Surveyors  with  respect  to  what  has  been  done  this  Summer 
and  give  them  such  further  directions  as  may  appear  necessary. 
These  are  my  sentiments,  but  I  am  by  no  means  tenacious 
of  them,  if  they  coincide  with  yours  I  shall  be  happy,  if  not 
favor  me  with  your  reasons,  so  that  we  may  return  an  answer 
to  the  Commissioners  under  the  6  and  7  Articles ;  and  in  the 
former  event  notify  our  Secretary,  Agents,  Astronomers  and 
Surveyors,  where  and  when  to  attend.  Any  day  between  the 
first  and  10th  day  of  May  will  suit  me  to  meet  our  own  Board, 
and  the  Board  of  the  other  Commrs. 


TO   ME.   CHIPMAN. 

New  York  6th  Dec,  1817. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  received  a  few  days  since  your  Letter  of  the  17th  of  No 
vember  together  with  its  enclosures,  seven  in  number,  for 
which  accept  my  thanks.  I  am  pleased  to  find,  notwithstand 
ing  an  expression  contained  in  one  of  your  Sons  Letters,  that 
you  continue  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Campbell  the 
Surveyor,  as  it  corresponds  with  the  character  you  had  invari 
ably  given  me  of  that  Gentleman.  I  know  not  suificient  of 
the  Country  to  form  any  Idea  of  the  consequences  which  will 
follow  adopting  the  Restigouche  for  the  River  whose  waters 
empty  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  or  how  it  will  comport 
with  a  River  to  be  found  the  Waters  of  which  discharge  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  point,  as  I  suggested  to  you  in  my 
Letter  of  the  8th  ult.  I  leave  wholly  to  your  better  information 
and  judgment,  with  this  one  remark,  that  if  adopting  this  river 
will  tend  to  His  Majesty s  Interest  there  can  be  no  objection  to 
falling  in  with  the  wishes  of  the  American  Surveyor,  and  on 
the  contrary  should  it  be  found  prejudicial  we  may  easily  pre 
vent  the  adoption  of  it,  because  it  empties  into  the  Bay  of 
Chaleurs  in  the  Gulf  St.  Lawrence,  and  not  into  the  River  of 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  399 

that  name.  If  a  Stream  can  be  found  whose  waters  empty 
into  any  River  which  discharges  itself  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
(nay  I  am  not  certain  but  even  a  Stream  which  unites  with  a 
River  which  pours  its  Waters  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by  the 
Bay  of  Fundy)  such  River,  if  it  accords  with  the  Interest  of 
His  Majesty  should  be  pressed  on  the  Surveyors  as  the  River. 
If  you  are  satisfied  with  Bouchette,  all  is  well.  In  justice  to 
our  government,  I  beg  leave  to  say,  that  it  would  have  left  the 
appointment  of  Astronomers  and  Surveyors  to  me,  but  as  I 
did  not  know  of  any  really  able  ones  in  America,  and  did  not 
wish  to  assume  that  responsibility  which  would  attach  to  my 
appointment,  I  requested  the  Foreign  office  to  provide  the 
Commission  with  adequate  Astronomers  and  Surveyors.  Still 
if  necessary  I  am  of  opinion,  and  shall  have  no  reluctance  to 
appoint  others,  and  supersede  those  now  on  that  service.  I 
enclose  herewith  the  engrossed  Decision  of  the  Commissioners 
under  the  4th  Article  of  the  Treaty  also  the  sheets  of  the  Jour 
nal  to  complete  those  you  took  on  from  Boston ;  and  the 
Presidents  message  to  Congress.  You  will  notice  the  manner 
in  which  he  informs  Congress  of  the  decision  of  the  Commis 
sioners.  He  tells  the  truth  but  not  the  whole  Truth.  Not  a 
word  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  or  Island  of  Grand  Manan. —  I 
think  this  augurs  he  feels  sore  on  the  point,  otherwise  he 
would  have  added  to  which  of  the  two  Nations  that  Island 
had  been  decided.1  Although  the  Commission  under  the  5th 
Article  stands  adjourned  to  meet  here  in  May,  I  think  it  rather 
probable  that  we  shall  change  the  place  of  meeting  to  S*  Regis 
on  the  S*  Lawrence,  near  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  Par 
allel  of  the  45th  Degree  of  North  Latitude  with  that  River. 
Should  it  be  so  agreed  upon  between  Mr.  Van  Ness  and  my 
self,  you  shall  have  the  earliest  Notice. 

l  "I  have  also  the  satisfaction  to  dy  belonged,  under  the  treaty  of 
state  that  the  Commissioners  under  1783,  have  agreed  in  a  report,  by 
the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  of  which  all  the  islands  in  the  posses- 
Ghent,  to  whom  it  was  referred  to  sion  of  each  party  before  the  late 
decide  to  which  party  the  several  war  have  been  decreed  to  it." — Pres. 
islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquod-  Monroe's  Message,  December  2,  1817. 


400  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

TO   LORD   CASTLEREAGH. 

New  York  1st  January  1818. 
MY  LORD. 

In  my  Letters  to  your  Lordship  of  the  5th  and  25th  of  June  on 
the  Subject  of  the  Surveys  then  about  to  be  commenced  from 
the  source  of  the  River  St.  Croix  to  the  Highlands,  one  of  the 
objects  directed  by  the  3d  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  I 
acquainted  your  Lordship,  that  the  Commissioners  under  that 
Article  had  appointed  two  sets  of  Surveyors,  the  one  to  run 
the  due  North  Line  and  admeasure  the  distance,  the  other  to 
precede  them  and  endeavor  to  discover  that  point  of  the 
Highlands  described  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  and  in  the  Treaty 
of  1783  as  forming  the  North  West  Angle  of  Nova  Scotia. 
The  last  named  party  was  denominated  the  exploring  Sur 
veyors,  and  consisted  of  Mr.  Bouchette  on  the  part  of  His 
Majesty  and  Mr.  Johnson  on  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
the  principal  Surveyors  of  both  nations. — These  Gentlemen 
have  explored  about  one  hundred  miles  north  to  a  stream 
called  the  Wagunsis,  which  falls  into  the  River  Restigouche, 
which  emptieth  (not  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence)  but  into  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  by  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs :  It  appears 
they  consider  this  Stream  to  comport  with  the  description  in 
the  second  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  1783  respecting  the  High 
lands,  and  the  waters  which  empty  into  the  River  St.  Law 
rence.  At  present  it  is  impossible  to  determine  whether  the 
adopting  of  this  Stream  will  comport  with  His  Majesty's  in 
terests.  Waters  falling  into  the  Atlantic  ocean  correspond 
ing  with  the  words  of  the  Treaty  must  be  found  before  this 
result  can  be  ascertained.  Should  the  adoption  of  this 
Stream  prove  injurious,  it  can  always  be  rejected  on  proof 
that  the  waters  do  not  empty  into  the  River,  but  into  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  In  the  present  uncertain  state  of  the 
exploring  survey,  it  was  not  my  intention  to  have  troubled 
your  Lordship  on  the  Subject.  I  have,  however,  been  led  to 
make  the  preceding  remarks  to  show  under  what  part  of  the 
Surveys  Mr.  Bouchette  had  been  employed  during  the  last 
Season,  and  to  enable  your  Lordship  the  more  readily  to  com- 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  401 

prehend  the  enclosed  copy  of  a  Letter  from  Mr.  Chipman,  His 
Majestys  Agent  to  me. 

Your  Lordship  will  perceive  from  this  Letter  that  Mr. 
Chipman  is  dissatisfied  with  Mr.  Bouchette,  that  he  thinks 
he  wants  at  least  practical  professional  knowledge,  prudence, 
nerve  and  constitution,  and  on  the  whole  is  not  a  character 
in  whom  a  matter  of  so  much  moment  as  ascertaining  the 
North  West  Angle  of  Nova  Scotia  can  with  safety  be  confided. 
Yet  as  his  opinion  is  formed  in  some  measure  from  conjecture 
and  the  reports  of  others,  Mr.  Chipman  is  unwilling  that  Mr. 
Bouchette  should  be  superceded  in  his  appointment,  he  there 
fore  recommends  that  I  acceed  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
in  May  next  to  the  proposition  of  the  American  Commissioner 
and  Agent  to  commence  running  the  parallel  of  the  45  Degree 
of  North  Latitude  from  the  River  Cataraguay  to  the  North- 
westmost  head  of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  to  employ  Mr. 
Bouchette  on  this  service,  which  will  be  simple  and  over  a 
tract  of  country  generally  under  cultivation,  in  addition  to 
his  remarks,  I  beg  leave  to  add  that  Dr.  Tiarks  His  Majestys 
Astronomer  and  the  American  Astronomer  Mr.  Ellicott  will 
be  always  near  the  Surveyors  to  correct  any  error.  ^Indeed 
the  Surveyors  on  this  Line  will  have  only  to  run  and  measure 
on  a  due  east  course  from  one  station  to  another  of  the  paral 
lel  to  be  established  by  the  Astronomers.  If  this  proposal 
meets  your  Lordships  concurrence,  I  will  in  May  assign  to 
Mr.  Bouchette  this  part  of  the  Service. — A  Surveyor  in  this 
event  will  be  wanted  to  fill  the  place  of  Mr.  Bouchette  on  the 
exploring  survey  to  ascertain  the  Highlands,  North  of  the 
Source  of  the  River  St.  Croix,  that  divide  those  Rivers  which 
empty  themselves  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  from  those 
which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Mr.  Chipman  has  named, 
Mr.  Odell  the  Present  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  New 
Brunswick,  Son  of  the  late  Secretary  of  that  Province,  as  a 
Gentleman  every  way  qualified  for  this  important  Service,  a 
Service  infinitely  the  most  material  under  the  5th  article  of 
the  Treaty.  He  is  however  under  an  apprehension  that  Mr. 
Odell  will  not  feel  inclined  to  undertake  so  laborious  a  task 
on  his  or  my  request.  I  have  110  knowledge  of  Mr.  Odell,  but 

26 


402       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

the  confidence  I  place  in  Mr.  Chipmans  prudence  and  judg 
ment  leads  me  to  consider  Mr.  Odell  as  the  most  proper  per 
son  to  execute  this  duty.  Should  your  Lordship  think  proper 
to  adopt  Mr.  Chipmans  recommendation  it  will  be  necessary 
for  your  Lordship,  or  Earl  Bathurst  to  whose  department  as 
Secretary  of  New  Brunswick  he  more  immediately  belongs,  to 
write  him  a  Letter,  expressive  of  the  Wishes  of  Government 
that  he  should  undertake  this  Service,  and  that  it  is  expected 
he  will  not  decline  doing  it.  The  Letters  on  this  Subject  to 
Mr.  Odell  and  to  Mr.  Chipman  require  dispatch.  Mr.  Chip- 
mans  Letter  to  me,  whereof  a  copy  is  enclosed,  is  confidential, 
and  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  request  your  Lordship  will  be  pleased 
to  consider  it  such,  and  that  it  may  not  be  communicated  to 
any  person,  other  than  His  Majestys  ministers.1 


FEOM   DR.   TIAEKS. 

On  the  Old  Line  east  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Oct.  15,  1818. 
SIR. 

Your  letter  of  the  29th  Sept.  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving 
to-day.  I  returned  last  Monday  from  the  Station  at  Odell- 
town2  and  found  Mr.  Hassler3  according  to  our  agreement  en 
camped  on  Lake  Champlain  on  the  Old  Line  nearly  opposite 
the  American  fort.  I  had  no  time  to  calculate  my  observations 

1  Col.  Bouchette  never  rendered  Regis,  where  they  gave  instructions 

any  further  service  on  the  survey,  for  running  the  line  of  latitude  45° 

declining,   it  would    seem,   to    act  eastward  along  the  States  of  New- 

under  Dr.  Tiarks ;  and  he  was  finally  York  and  Vermont,  and  about  the 

discharged  by  an  order  of  Lord  Cas-  middle  of  June  they  adjourned  to 

tlereagh,  dated  July  10,  1819.     The  meet  again  in  the  spring  of  1819. 

commissioners  under  the  5th  Article  2  A  small  village  in  Canada,  near 

met  this  year  (1818)  at  Burlington,  Rouse's  Point. 

Vermont,  in  the  month  of  May,  and  3  Ferdinand  R.  Hassler  was,  like 

there  settled  some  matters  relative  Dr.  Tiarks,  a  native  of  Switzerland, 

to  the  survey  of  the  line  running  He  was  the  first  superintendent  of 

north  from  the  head  of  the  St.  Croix.  the  Coast  Survey,  and  planned  and 

From  Burlington,  the  commissioners  directed  that  great  work  until  his 

went  to  Montreal,  and  thence  to  St.  death  in  1843. 


THE  NORTHEAST  BOUNDARY  403 

at  Odelltown  made  with  the  instrument  you  lately  sent  to 
me,  but  one  which  I  had  tried  gave  the  Old  Line  about  3000 
feet  too  far  north.  Lieut.  Vinton  calculated  one  in  which  he 
placed  great  confidence  and  found  the  Old  Line  35"  (about 
3535  feet)  north.  Surprising  as  these  results  were  yet  their 
agreement  made  me  think  that  they  are  correct.  When  I  ar 
rived  at  the  Camp  and  informed  Mr.  Hassler  of  what  I  had 
found  he  expressed  his  belief  that  the  Line  was  likewise  too 
far  north  at  this  place.  You  may  easily  imagine  my  ardent 
desire  to  make  observations  with  the  repeating  circle,  but 
neither  the  observatory  was  finished  nor  the  circle  placed.  I 
then  took  immediately  the  reflecting  circle  of  Mr.  Hassler  and 
to  my  astonishment  two  observations  of  the  Sun  which  agreed 
remarkably  well  gave  my  Latitude  45°  0'  38".  That  is  about 
3838'  North  of  the  Parallel  of  45°  which  I  observed  on  the  old 
line.  I  communicated  it  to  Mr.  Hassler  and  to  my  still  greater 
surprise  heard  that  the  few  observations  he  had  calculated 
brought  the  old  Line  still  farther  north,  that  is  about  46" 
(4646')  which  had  likewise  been  so  unexpected  to  him  that  he 
could  at  first  not  credit  it.  He  then  calculated  some  others 
and  obtained  with  little  difference  the  same  result.  Most 
anxious  to  get  as  quickly  as  possible  at  the  truth  he  communi 
cated  to  me  an  observation  of  the  Pole  Star,  which  I  calculated 
this  morning.  The  result  of  the  whole  observation  consisting 
of  two  series  of  repetitions  gave  about  40"  nearly  the  same 
which  my  own  two  Solar  observations  had  given.  Lieut  Vin 
ton  yet  ignorant  of  our  result  then  began  to  calculate  observa 
tions  of  his  own  made  with  a  reflecting  circle  and  obtained 
only  12"  north ;  another  however  gave  him  50".  These  are  all 
the  observations  hitherto  calculated.  They  are  taken  by  three 
different  observers  with  three  several  instruments  of  two  dif- 
erent  constructions  on  different  celestial  objects  and  leaving 
out  Mr.  Vinton's  one  observation,  which  being  a  star  observed 
by  the  reflecting  circle  deserves  naturally  less  credit,  they 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  Old  Line  is  about  f  mile  too  far 
north.  The  distance  of  the  Fort  built  by  Col  Totten  from 
the  Old  Line  is  reckoned  less  than  half  a  mile ;  the  other  now 
building  is  very  near  it  and  there  seems  therefore,  hardly  to 


404        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

remain  any  doubt  but  that  both  Forts  are  on  British  territory ! 
I  have  been  thus  particular  in  detailing  to  you  what  knowledge 
I  have  and  on  what  it  is  founded  as  this  point  is  of  extreme 
importance  and  as  I  thought  it  necessary  that  you  should  be 
informed  of  it  as  soon  as  possible.  We  have  thought  it  ad 
visable  to  keep  this  a  profound  secret ;  nobody  knows  it  as  yet 
except  those  who  calculated  themselves,  and  even  most  of  our 
Assistants  are  still  ignorant  of  it.  Lieut  Vinton  goes  tomor 
row  to  the  American  Agent  and  Mr.  Hassler  has  written  to 
General  Swift  about  it  partly  with  a  view  of  obtaining  a 
Zenith  Sector  ordered  in  London  which  may  be  expected  to 
have  arrived  as  it  will  be  his  duty  to  insist  on  the  most  accur 
ate  determination  of  this  point.  It  is  Mr.  Hassler's  opinion 
that  the  success  of  our  operations  might  be  endangered  if  this 
matter  became  generally  known  by  the  irritation  which  such 
a  thing  may  produce  on  the  minds  of  the  lower  classes,  and  he 
has  requested  me  to  keep  it  secret  as  long  as  possible.  Whether 
such  fears  are  grounded  or  not  I  cannot  say  being  too  little 
acquainted  with  the  inhabitants  of  this  State.1  As  I  have 
perfectly  laid  open  to  you  whatever  I  know  I  think  to  have 
discharged  my  duty  and  shall  quietly  continue  my  operations 
and  await  the  further  results.  I  am,  &c.,  T.^L.  TIARKS. 

1  "I  was  going  to  the  President's,  the  people  there.  ...  I  told  Bagot 
but  was  detained  half  an  hour  by  I  thought  it  was  nothing  but  a  mag- 
Mr.  Bagot,  who  came,  in  much  agi-  got  in  the  brain  of  Hassler,  and  that 
tation,  wit  a  letter  he  had  just  re-  there  was  no  danger  whatever.  But 
ceived  from  Mr.  Barclay,  the  British  I  promised  to  mention  it  to  the  Pres- 
Commissioner  under  the  fifth  Article  ident  and  inform  him  of  the  result, 
of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent.  It  appears  I  found  Crawford  and  Calhoun  with 
that  in  running  their  forty -fifth  par-  the  President,  and  told  them  of  Ba- 
allel  of  latitude  they  find,  by  the  ob-  got's  communication.  Notice  of  the 
servations  of  the  astronomers  on  fact  that  the  astronomical  observa- 
both  sides,  that  the  existing  line  tions  are  likely  to  deprive  us  of  our 
touchin  upon  Lake  Champlain  is  two  new  forts  had  been  received 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  too  yesterday  from  Colonel  Totten  by  a 
far  north,  and  that  the  new  line  will  letter  from  Hassler,  but  the  Presi- 
bring  two  forts  lately  built  by  us  dent  and  Calhoun  laughed  at  the 
within  the  British  territory.  Hass-  idea  of  the  apprehended  rebellion 
ler,  the  American  astronomer,  is  so  against  the  astronomers  in  Ver- 
much  alarmed  at  this  result  that  he  mont." — Diary  of  John  Quincy 
is  afraid  there  will  be  a  riot  among  Adams,  October  28,  1818. 


CHAPTER  IX 
LAST  DAYS 

FEW  records  exist  of  the  last  twelve  years  of  Bar 
clay's  life;  and,  indeed,  it  was  a  quiet  old  age, 
disturbed  by  no  unusual  incidents  and  marked  by  no 
extremes  of  good  or  evil  fortune. 

The  chief  public  duty  which  remained  still  to  be 
performed  was  the  closing  up  of  the  affairs  of  the 
commission  under  the  fifth  article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent.  It  had  become  perfectly  clear,  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1819,  that  Barclay's  first  impres 
sions  were  correct,  and  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
an  adjustment  of  the  northeast  boundary  were  so  great 
as  to  preclude  all  hope  of  the  commissioners  reaching 
an  agreement.  From  that  time  on,  the  efforts  of  the 
representatives  of  both  governments  were  strenuously 
devoted  to  collecting  evidence  favorable  to  their  re 
spective  claims,  and  to  making  up  a  record  for  submis 
sion  to  an  arbitrator. 

The  work  of  surveying  progressed  with  exasperating 
slowness,  and  the  public,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
condemned  the  commission  for  their  delays  and  for  the 
heavy  expense  which  they  incurred.  But  accurate  sur 
veys  were  indispensably  necessary ;  and  the  country  to 
be  explored  was  extraordinarily  difficult  and  the  sea 
son  for  operations  extremely  short. 

The  commission  sat  in  New- York  in  May,  1819,  and 
again  in  Boston  in  May,  1820,  but  nothing  beyond  rou- 

26*  405 


406        CORRESPONDENCE  OP  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

tine  business  could  be  transacted.  Maps  were  filed, 
surveyors  and  astronomers  were  instructed,  and  ac 
counts  were  audited.  At  length  it  was  agreed  that  the 
surveys  had  so  far  progressed  as  to  allow  the  commis 
sion  to  proceed  to  a  discussion  of  the  principles  which 
were  to  be  followed  in  running  the  line.  A  meeting  for 
the  purpose  of  hearing  arguments  was  fixed  for  Octo 
ber  23,  1820 ;  but  Mr.  Chipman,  the  British  agent,  was 
unable  to  attend,  and  an  adjournment  was  taken  until 
the  spring. 

The  next  year,  1821,  the  commission  went  industri 
ously  to  work.  They  sat  in  New- York  from  May  14 
to  June  9 ;  again  from  August  1  to  August  14 ;  and 
finally  from  September  20  to  October  4,  when  the  argu 
ments  of  the  agents  were  completed,  and  a  long  and  ill- 
tempered  discussion  between  them  was  finally  brought 
to  an  end.  The  commissioners  separated  upon  the  un 
derstanding  that  separate  reports  were  to  be  brought 
in,  and  that  the  winter  was  to  be  devoted  to  a  prepara 
tion  of  all  the  reports,  maps  and  papers  in  duplicate 
which  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  required  should  be  laid 
before  each  government. 

On  April  1,  1822,  the  final  session  of  the  commission 
was  begun  in  New- York.  The  accounts  were  audited, 
the  minor  employees  paid  off,  the  reports  were  read, 
and  finally,  on  April  13,  the  commissioners  formally 
entered  on  their  journal  their  failure  to  agree,  and  ad 
journed  until  the  further  pleasure  of  the  two  govern 
ments  should  be  known.  Their  disagreement  was 
complete.  They  did  not  even  unite  in  reporting  a  gen 
eral  map  of  the  region  in  dispute,  but  filed  instead  a 
mass  of  disconnected  surveys.  They  differed  as  to  the 
location  of  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia ;  as  to 
the  situation  of  the  "highlands";  as  to  the  source  of 


LAST   DAYS  407 

the  Connecticut  River ;  and  even  as  to  the  parallel  of 
45°  north  latitude.1  The  report  of  the  American  com 
missioner  was  comparatively  brief,  the  copy  filed  in  the 
State  department  at  Washington  covering  only  seventy 
folio  pages  of  a  rather  small  manuscript.  Barclay's  re 
port  was  much  more  elaborate.  Written  in  a  very  similar 
hand  to  that  of  his  colleague's  report,  it  extends  to  322 
folio  pages,  to  which  are  added  177  pages  of  appendix. 
It  is  a  complete  review  of  the  subject  in  all  its  phases, 
and  contains,  besides  an  historical  account  of  the  boun 
daries  of  the  provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  Quebec  and 
Massachusetts,  a  discussion  of  every  argument  advanced 
on  either  side.  These  reports  have  never  been  printed 
in  full,  but  liberal  extracts  were  printed  as  appendices 
LIII.  and  LIV.  (pp.  371-398)  to  the  "  American  Case 
presented  to  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  "  (Washing 
ton,  1829),  a  volume  not  published,  but  which  is  to  be 
found  in  some  of  the  larger  libraries. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  northeast  boundary 
question  is  not  a  little  curious.  The  event  of  a  disa 
greement  between  the  commissioners,  contemplated  by 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  having  thus  arisen,  it  had  now 
become  the  duty  of  the  two  governments  to  submit 
their  dispute  to  "a  friendly  sovereign  or  State";  but 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  so  vague  in  respect  to 
methods  of  procedure  that  more  than  five  years  were 
consumed  in  desultory  discussion  before  the  needful 
arrangements  could  be  made.  At  length,  in  September, 
1827,  Albert  Gallatin,  then  United  States  Minister  in 
London,  negotiated  a  treaty  by  which  all  the  points 

1  The  U.  S.  agent  claimed  that  Point ;   but  the  commissioner,  Mr. 

geocentric    instead    of    geographical  Van  Ness,  expressed  no  opinion  on 

latitude  should  be  taken,  the  result  this  point  in  his  report, 
of  which  would  be  to  save  Rouse's 


408       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

were  covered.  This  treaty  recites  that  the  reports  of 
the  commissioners  and  the  annexed  documents  are  "  so 
voluminous  and  complicated  as  to  render  it  improbable 
that  any  sovereign  or  State  should  be  willing  to  under 
take  the  office  of  investigating  or  arbitrating  upon 
them/'  and  it  is  thereupon  agreed  to  submit  instead  a 
new  statement  of  facts  on  each  side,  accompanied  by  a 
general  map  —  which  is  annexed  to  the  new  treaty  — 
showing  the  watercourses  and  the  boundary  lines  as 
contended  for  by  each  party  respectively.1  The  state 
ments  of  the  parties  were  to  be  exchanged  within  fif 
teen  months  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  replies 
thereto  in  six  months  thereafter;  and  the  statements 
and  replies  were  then  to  be  submitted  to  the  arbitrator. 

If  a  hope  was  really  entertained  of  shortening  the 
arguments  to  be  submitted,  that  hope  must  very  soon 
have  been  dispelled.  The  case  could  not  be  presented 
briefly.  An  enormous  mass  of  printed  matter  was  pre 
pared  by  the  representatives  of  each  party,  and  during 
the  year  1830  this  great  bulk  of  assertion  and  argument 
was  laid  before  the  King  of  the  Netherlands,  who  had 
consented,  in  a  rash  moment,  to  act  as  arbitrator. 

On  January  10,  1831,  the  arbitrator  made  his  report. 
Instead  of  simply  deciding  the  questions  submitted  to 
him,  the  King  declared  his  inability  to  decide  upon  the 
line  truly  intended  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  he  pro 
posed  instead  a  new  line  as  a  matter  of  compromise 
which— he  suggested— it  would  be  suitable  (il  conviendra) 
to  adopt.  Instead  of  following  "  highlands,"  the  line 
was  to  run  through  a  valley,  proceeding  along  the  mid 
dle  of  the  rivers  St.  John  and  St.  Francis.  The  diffi 
culty  in  regard  to  the  parallel  of  45  north  latitude 
was  got  around  by  proposing  to  run  the  line  according 

1  See  a  copy  of  this  map,  which  is  known  as  Map  A,  ante  page  44. 


LAST   DAYS  409 

to  the  corrected  observations,  but  to  save  Rouse's  Point 
to  the  United  States  by  describing  a  semicircle  round 
the  fort. 

The  award  was  satisfactory  to  neither  party,  and 
was  rejected  by  both,  and  has  never  been  published. 
Matters  now  seemed  more  unpromising  than  ever. 
Public  feeling  ran  high,  especially  in  Maine  and  New 
Brunswick.  On  one  occasion,  in  1838,  certain  British 
subjects  having  cut  timber  on  the  disputed  territory,  a 
Maine  constable  was  sent  with  a  posse  to  drive  them 
off ;  but  he  was  himself  arrested  and  imprisoned  by  the 
provincial  authorities.  The  militia  were  ordered  out, 
and  actual  warfare  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  close  at 
hand,  until  good  sense  prevailed,  and  "  the  Restook 
War  "  became  nothing  but  a  local  reminiscence.1 

The  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty  in  1842  finally  put 
an  end  to  the  whole  troublesome  business,  not  without 
blustering  from  Benton  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  Palmerston  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  at 
tempt  to  find  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia  was 
given  up.  A  line  intermediate  between  the  extreme 
pretensions  of  the  two  parties  was  drawn.  And  the 
unquestionable  British  claim  to  the  line  of  45°  north 
latitude  was  surrendered,  the  old  incorrect  line  of  1763 
being  retained  as  the  northern  boundary  of  New- York 
and  Vermont.  Precisely  twenty  years  and  six  months 
elapsed  from  the  day  the  boundary  commission  ad 
journed  sine  die  in  New-York  until  the  ratifications 
of  the  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty  were  exchanged  in 
London. 

On  that  same  day  of  the  adjournment  of  the  com 
mission,  Barclay  paid  Messrs.  Isaac  Wright  &  Son  thir- 

1  Some  account  of  the  negotiations  between  the  authorities  on  the  border 
will  be  found  in  General  Scott's  Autobiography,  Chap,  xxiii. 


410        CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

ty-five  guineas  passage-money  for  a  berth  in  the  ship 
James  Cropper;  and  a  day  or  two  later  he  sailed  for 
England,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Chipman.  They  landed 
at  Kinsale,  in  Ireland,  crossed  the  channel  from  Cork, 
and  posted  to  London,  arriving  there  early  in  June. 
They  took  with  them  the  reports  and  records  of  the 
commission  to  be  filed  in  the  Foreign  Office.  Their 
business  was  soon  settled,  and  Barclay  probably  found 
less  to  attract  him  than  when  he  had  first  visited  Eng 
land  nearly  twenty  years  earlier.  Before  the  summer 
was  over  he  was  ready  to  return,  and  he  sailed  from 
Liverpool  in  the  James  Thompson,  landing  in  New- York 
on  September  7,  1822.1 

On  his  return  from  this  his  last  visit  to  England, 
Barclay  was  sixty-nine  years  of  age,  and  the  story  of 
his  remaining  years  may  be  told  in  few  words.  His 
work  was  done,  and  increasing  infirmities  put  a  per 
emptory  stop  to  further  activity. 

In  the  summer  of  1823  he  hired  a  country  place  on 
Manhattan  Island,  which  comprised  a  house  and  twelve 
acres  of  land.  It  lay  on  the  Eastern  Post  Eoad,  near 
the  four-mile  stone,  sloping  down  to  where  a  cove  set 
in  from  the  rocky  shores  of  the  East  River.  The  waters 
of  the  little  cove  were  shallow,  and  afforded  a  safe  an 
chorage  for  small  craft  away  from  the  swirling  tides 
that  set  through  the  narrow  passage  between  Manhat 
tan  and  Blackwell's  Islands ;  and  Rock  Harbor  was  the 
name  which  was  given,  appropriately  enough,  to  the 
suburban  villa.  The  site  of  it  is  covered  to-day  with 
breweries  and  tenement-houses,  and  it  lies  just  east  of 

1  He  paid  forty  guineas  for  the  ward.  Owing  to  the  prevailing  west- 
westward  trip,  the  rate  of  passage  erly  winds  the  voyage  from  England 
this  way,  according  to  the  usual  cus-  was  commonly  the  longer, 
torn,  being  higher  than  to  the  east- 


LAST  DAYS  411 

Third  Avenue,  between  Forty-fifth  and  Forty-seventh 
streets  in  the  city  of  New- York.  Barclay  was  pleased 
with  his  modest  country-seat,  and  in  March,  1824,  he 
bought  it  of  the  owner,  paying  $500  an  acre  for  it,  or 
$6000  in  all.  He  remained  in  possession  of  the  property 
until  the  summer  before  his  death,  when  he  sold  it  for 
$9000,  thus  realizing  a  profit  of  fifty  per  cent,  on  his 
investment. 

His  life  was  easy  and  uneventful.  His  grandchildren 
were  multiplying  and  growing  up  about  him,  and  his 
estate  was  prospering.  He  occupied  himself  with  little 
household  occupations,  and  noted  with  care  the  days 
of  his  migrations  from  town  to  country,  and  from 
country  to  town.  A  visit  to  Maryland,  another  to  New 
port,  another  to  his  son,  Henry,  on  the  Hudson  River, 
were  duly  recorded  ;  and  with  them  the  bottling  of  his 
Madeira,  and  the  days  when  servants  were  engaged  or 
discharged.  One  reads  in  his  note-books  how  he  paid 
his  coachman  fourteen  dollars  a  month,  his  gardener 
ten,  and  "  Cicely,  a  black  cook,"  only  seven ;  and  one 
observes  further  down,  without  surprise,  that  Cicely  was 
"dismissed  for  incompetence"  at  the  end  of  a  month. 
Lists  were  kept  of  the  guests  at  his  dinner-parties,  and 
he  made  precise  notes  of  his  engagements  to  dine 
abroad.  The  old  gentlemen,  his  friends,  were  mostly 
"  warm  Federalists,"  though  Federalism,  hot  or  cold, 
had  ceased  to  be — Mr.  Oracle,  Mr.  Ray,  Dr.  Hosack, 
Mr.  Yarick.  Hours  were  earlier  than  at  this  end  of  the 
century.  Mr.  Waddington,  and  Mr.  Jauncey,  and  Mr. 
Moses  Rogers,  we  find,  dined  at  five  o'clock;  but  Mr. 
Low  and  Mr.  H.  Rogers  dined  at  the  less  dissipated 
hour  of  four. 

In  October,  1825,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Barclay's 
wedding  came  round.  All  the  surviving  children  were 


412       CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  BARCLAY 

at  hand,  except  Maria,  who  was  away  with  her  hus 
band  in  British  Gruiana,  and  De  Lancey  in  England. 
De  Lancey  had  this  year  been  made  a  colonel  by  bre 
vet,  and  aide-de-camp  to  King  George  IV.;  and  he  had 
now  at  last  married,  being  forty-five  years  of  age. 
Greorge  had  given  up  his  notions  of  settling  in  England, 
and  was  now  established  as  a  successful  merchant  in 
New- York. 

The  spring  of  the  next  year  brought  the  ill  news  of 
De  Lancey's  death — of  pneumonia,  it  would  seem — 
only  a  very  few  days  after  the  birth  of  his  child,  a  little 
girl,  who  died  young.  His  death  was  a  bitter  blow  to 
his  father,  who  had  always  cherished  a  peculiar  affec 
tion  for  the  handsome  soldier.  Financial  worry  came 
also  through  Henry,  the  eldest  son,  who  had  retired 
from  business  in  New- York,  and  had  embarked  in  ra 
ther  ill-advised  ventures  at  Saugerties,  in  Ulster  County, 
where  he  established  iron-works  and  a  paper-mill  that 
absorbed  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  made  no  returns 
for  a  long  time  afterward. 

But  there  were  good  days  as  well  as  evil,  and  time 
on  the  whole  passed  by  not  unhappily.  Barclay's 
health,  for  the  most  part,  continued  good,  though  there 
were  long  intervals  in  winter  when  fear  of  cold  weather 
kept  him  in  his  house.  In  particular,  and  most  fortu 
nately  for  him,  his  mental  faculties  and  his  eyesight 
were  unimpaired,  and  letters  written  almost  in  the  last 
month  of  his  life  show  no  change  either  in  their  style  or 
in  the  small  and  rather  difficult  handwriting.  From  the 
summer  of  1829,  however,  he  began  to  fail  rather  rap 
idly.  The  end  came  at  last  on  Wednesday,  April  21, 
1830.  In  the  words  of  a  book  which  he  loved,  he  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers,  having  the  testimony  of  a  good 
conscience ;  in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church ; 


LAST  DAYS  413 

in  the  confidence  of  a  certain  faith ;  in  the  comfort  of 
a  reasonable,  religious  and  holy  hope ;  and  in  perfect 
charity  with  the  world. 

His  wife  survived  him  a  little  over  seven  years,  and 
died  May  2,  1837,  being  then  nearly  eighty-two  years 
of  age.  They  are  buried  together,  in  the  churchyard 
of  St.  Mark's  in  the  Bowery. 


APPENDIX 
CHILDREN  OF   THOMAS  AND   SUSAN  BARCLAY 

1.  ELIZA  BARCLAY,  born  at  Flushing,  N.  Y.,  December  3, 
1776;  married  Schuyler  Livingston  of  New- York,  June 
17,  1796 ;  died  at  Harlem,  June  21,  1817. 

2.  HENRY  BARCLAY,  born  in  New- York,  October  27,  1778 ; 
married  Catherine  Watts,  August  13, 1817;  died  at  Saug- 
erties,  N.  Y.,  January  3,  1851. 

3.  DE  LANCEY  BARCLAY,  born  in  New- York,  June  16,  1780 ; 
married  Mary,  widow  of  Gurney  Barclay,  in  1825 ;  died  in 
England,  March  29,  1826. 

4.  MARIA  BARCLAY,  born  in  New- York,  June  27,  1782 ;  mar 
ried  Simon  Fraser  of  Berbice,  British  Guiana;  died  at 
New- York,  August  7,  1862. 

5.  THOMAS  EDMUND  BARCLAY,  born  at  Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia, 

December  4, 1783 ;  married  Catherine  Channing,  February 
14,  1821 ;  died  at  New- York,  January  30,  1838. 

6.  SUSAN  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  Febru 
ary  5,  1785 ;  married  Peter  Gerard  Stuyvesant  of  New- 
York,  August  20,  1803 ;  died  at  New-York,  January  14, 
1805. 

7.  BEVERLEY  ROBINSON  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova 
Scotia,  December  22,  1786 ;  died  at  New- York,  June  15, 
1803. 

8.  ANN  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  December 
7,  1788;   married  William  B.  Parsons,  R.  N.,  May  29, 
1815 ;  died  at  New-York,  June  20,  1869. 

9.  GEORGE  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  July 
4,  1790;   married  Anna  Matilda  Aufrere,  December  8, 
1818 ;  died  at  New  Hamburgh,  N.  Y.,  July  28,  1869. 

415 


416  APPENDIX 

10.  ANTHONY  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  Sep 
tember  27,  1792  $  married  Ann  Waldberg  Glenn  j  died  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  March  21,  1877. 

11.  CLEMENT  HORTON  BARCLAY,  born  at  Annapolis,  Nova 
Scotia,  August  3,  1796;  and  died  there  in  September, 
1797. 

12.  CORNELIA  ELIZABETH  STEWART  BARCLAY,  born  in  New- 
York,  May  23,  1801 ;  and  died  there,  June  28,  1801. 


INDEX 


27 


INDEX 


ACT  for  the  more  effectual  preserva 
tion  of  peace,  etc.,  213,  214.  219, 
220,  222. 

Adams,  John ;  testimony  as  to  map 
used  at  Paris  in  fixing  Northeast 
Boundary,  66,  73-75 ;  probably  re- 
elected  President,  115. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  375,  378,  404. 

Admiralty,  Courts  of,  American  com 
plaints  concerning,  119;  reform  in, 
120,  134. 

Africaine,  H.  M.  Ship,  291. 

Albany,  Rev.  Thomas  Barclay  settled 
in  (1707-1722),  4  ;  Eev.  Henry  Bar 
clay  born  in,  6 ;  clergyman  in  (1738- 
1746),  7. 

Alexander,  Sir  William,  grant  to,  55, 
59,  71,  91,  367,  372,  374,  379,  389- 
392. 

Alternate  naming  of  Sovereigns  in 
public  documents,  when  rule  to  be 
followed,  381,  382. 

Ambuscade,  French  Frigate,  173. 

American  Ships  of  War,  reasons  of 
their  success  in  actions  with  Brit 
ish  Ships,  336-338. 

Analostan,  American  Brig,  333. 

Analostan  Island,  residence  of  Gen. 
John  Mason,  314. 

Andromache,  H.  M.  Ship,  126,  129, 
154. 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  25,  29,  35, 
36. 

Asia,  H.  M.  Ship,  15. 

Aurora,  newspaper,  attacks  Col.  Bar 
clay,  259. 

Austin,  James  T.,  American  agent 
before  the  Commissioners  under 
the  fourth  article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  359,  376. 

BAGOT,  CHARLES,  British  Minister 
at  Washington,  375,  404. 

Banks,  Sir  Joseph,  378. 

Baker,  Anthony  St.  John,  British 
Secretary  of  Legation  at  Washing 
ton,  310,  327,  328. 


Barclay,  Andrew  (of  Newtown,  L.I.), 
9,  11. 

Barclay,  Ann  (daughter  of  Col. 
Thomas  Barclay),  318,  351,  415; 
marries  W.  B.  Parsons,  365. 

Barclay,  Anna  Dorothea  (wife  of 
Beverly  Robinson),  9. 

Barclay,  Anthony  (of  Albany),  6. 

Barclay,  Anthony  (son  of  Col.  Tho 
mas  Barclay),  416  ;  at  school  in 
Nova  Scotia,  96,  206 ;  goes  to  Eng 
land  to  study  for  the  bar,  258 ; 
appointed  British  Commissioner 
under  the  sixth  and  seventh  ar 
ticles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  on 
the  death  of  Mr.  Ogilvy,  356 ;  mar 
ries  Ann  Waldberg  Glenn,  365. 

Barclay,  Beverley,  415  ;  removes  to 
New  York,  96 ;  death  of,  146. 

Barclay,  Catharine,  9. 

Barclay,  Clement,  77,  416. 

Barclay,  Cornelia  (wife  of  Stephen 
De  Lancey),  9. 

Barclay,  Cornelia  (daughter  of  Col. 
Thomas  Barclay),  128,  416. 

Barclay,  David,  emigrates  to  Amer 
ica  and  dies  at  sea,  2. 

Barclay,  De  Lancey,  415  ;  serves  in 
a  Nova  Scotia  regiment,  95 ;  ap 
plies  for  commission  in  the  regular 
army,  104;  Ensign  in  41st  Foot, 
105;  goes  to  Montreal,  117;  pro 
moted,  135  ;  goes  to  England,  145 ; 
promoted  to  be  Captain,  206,  226 ; 
Major  and  Lieut. -Colonel,  258 ; 
appointed  to  the  Guards,  318 ;  pro 
moted  to  be  Colonel  and  marries 
Mary  Barclay,  412 ;  his  death,  412. 

Barclay,  Eliza  (wife  of  Schuyler 
Livingston),  61,  415 ;  her  death, 
365. 

Barclay,  George,  415;  at  school  in 
Nova  Scotia,  96,  206;  comes  to 
New  York  in  1808  and  goes  into 
business  with  Henry  Barclay,  258; 
marries  Anna  Matilda  Aufrere, 
365. 


419 


420 


INDEX 


Barclay,  Eev.  Henry,  born  at  Albany, 
graduated  at  Yale,  5  ;  rector  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Albany  (1738- 
1746),  6  ;  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
New  York  (1746-1764),  7  ;  marries, 
8 ;  Doctor  of  Divinity,  10 :  his  death 
in  1764,  11. 

Barclay,  Henry  (son  of  Col.  Thomas 
Barclay),  415 ;  a  clerk  at  Halifax, 
95 ;  removes  to  New  York,  96 ; 
warns  British  frigates,  199,  201 ; 
enters  into  partnership  with  Mr. 
Eumsey,  206 ;  becomes  a  success 
ful  merchant,  258 ;  communicates 
with  British  men-of-war,  269 ; 
marries  Catherine  Watts,  365 ;  fi 
nancial  difficulties,  412. 

Barclay,  John,  settles  in  East  Jersey 
in  1683,  1 ;  dies  1731,  3. 

Barclay,  Maria  (wife  of  Simon  Fra- 
ser),  97,  415. 

Barclay,  Mary  (widow  of  Kev.  Hen 
ry  Barclay),  11,  31. 

Barclay,  Eobert,  Governor  of  East 
Jersey,  2. 

Barclay,  Susan  (daughter  of  Col. 
Thomas  Barclay),  415;  marries 
Peter  Gerard  Stuyvesant,  148; 
her  death,  206,  209,  215. 

Barclay,  Susan  (wife  of  Col.  Thomas 
Barclay),  16,  36,  413. 

Barclay,  Eev.  Thomas,  takes  orders, 
4 ;  dies  1722,  5. 

Barclay,  Thomas  (of  Albany),  6. 

Barclay,  Col.  Thomas,  born  in  New 
York  1753,  1;  education,  12;  grad 
uates  from  King's  College,  14; 
studies  law,  15 ;  marries  Susan  De 
Lancey,  16 ;  settles  at  the  Walkill, 
17  ;  joins  the  British  Army  in  1776, 
19,  22 ;  military  service,  22-28 ;  set 
tles  in  Nova  Scotia,  20 ;  life  at  Wil- 
mot,  28;  member  of  Provincial  As 
sembly  1785,  speaker  1793-1799, 
30 ;  raises  a  regiment  in  Nova  Sco 
tia,  30  ;  education  of  his  children, 
40;  Commissioner  under  Jay's 
Treaty,  46 ;  revisits  New  York,  47 ; 
unites  with  American  Commis 
sioner  in  appointment  of  Egbert 
Benson  as  third  Commissioner  un 
der  Jay's  Treaty,  58,  62 ;  attends 
meetings  of  commission,  64-66, 
73-75,  90-94 ;  signs  report  of  Com 
missioners,  90 ;  appointed  British 
Consul-General  at  New  York  in 
January,  1799, 95 ;  takes  up  his  resi 


dence  there,  96;  salary  in  arrears, 
99 ;  rumor  of  efforts  to  supplant 
Sir  John  Wentworth,  114;  visit 
to  England  (April,  1802,  to  April, 
1803),  145 ;  removes  to  Harlem,  207 ; 
sails  for  Europe  in  1812  on  declar 
ation  of  war,  257;  takes  lodgings 
in  London,  312  ;  appointed  Agent 
for  British  prisoners  of  war,  313 ; 
sails  for  the  United  States  via 
Bermuda  and  goes  to  Washington, 
314;  returns  to  Harlem,  315;  or 
dered  to  remove  to  Bladensburgh, 
316,  341-343 ;  resigns  as  agent  for 
prisoners,  317,  343 ;  ordered  to  re 
move  to  Hagerstown,  317,  345 ; 
sails  for  England  Oct.  1814,  318 ; 
engaged  in  settling  accounts  for 
maintenance  of  prisoners  of  war, 
353  ;  appointed  Commissioner  un 
der  fourth  and  fifth  articles  of 
Treaty  of  Ghent,  355;  returns  to 
New  York  and  resumes  duties  of 
Consul-General,  356 ;  doubts  possi 
bility  of  settling  Northeast  Boun 
dary,  360 ;  sells  his  house  at  Har 
lem  and  moves  to  New  York,  365 ; 
instructions  from  the  Foreign  Of 
fice  concerning  duties  and  com 
pensation  as  Commissioner  under 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  365-370; 
signs  decision  of  Commissioners 
in  regard  to  islands  in  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay,  394 ;  files  separate 
report  in  regard  to  Northeast 
Boundary,  407;  sails  for  Europe 
(April,  1822),  409;  returns  to  New 
York,  410 ;  purchases  a  country 
place  in  the  East  Eiver,  411;  his 
death,  412. 

Barclay,  Thomas  (son  of  Col.  Tho 
mas  Barclay),  415 ;  enters  British 
Navy,  96;  midshipman,  127;  pro 
moted  to  be  lieutenant,  206 ;  com 
mander,  258,  312 ;  post  captain, 
318 ;  retires  on  half  pay,  318. 

Barney,  Joshua,  149. 

Barren,  Commodore  James,  U.  S.  N., 
101,  267. 

Barren,  Capt.  Samuel,  U.  S.  N.,  101. 

Barton,  George,  clerk  to  Col.  Bar 
clay,  345,  346,  347,  349,  351,  352. 

Bathurst,  Earl,  340,  376,  377,  380, 
402. 

Bayard,  Samuel,  22,  31. 

Beasley,  EeubenG.,  Agent  for  Amer 
ican  prisoners  in  England,  313,  320. 


INDEX 


421 


Bell,  Isaac,  158. 

Benson,  Egbert,  9,  13,  31 ;  Commis 
sioner  under  Jay's  Treaty,  46,  51, 
58,62;  views  concerning  River  St. 
Croix,  91-93;  views  concerning 
title  to  Moose  Island,  285. 

Benson,  Robert,  8. 

Berceau,  French  Corvette,  125,  127, 
129. 

Beresford,  Capt.,  R.N.,  207-209.  226, 
228,  230,  240-242. 

Berkeley,  Vice-Admiral,  243,  247. 
249,  258,  262,  266,  267,  271. 

Berlin  Decree,  253,  262. 

Bickerton,  Admiral  Sir  Richard,  325. 

Billings,  Samuel,  wrongfully  im 
pressed,  183,  191. 

Bladensburgh,  Battle  of,  317,  348. 

Bladensburgh,  designated  as  place 
of  residence  for  Col.  Barclay,  341, 
342,  343;  Barclay  directed  to  re 
move  from  in  consequence  of  ap 
proach  of  British  troops,  345; 
leaves  his  papers  in  charge  of  his 
clerk  at,  346. 

Blockade  of  New  York  by  British 
Squadron  in  1804,  170-176,  179; 
American  jurisdiction  infringed, 
185,  189 ;  difficulties  of,  200,  204. 

Blowers,  Sampson  Salter,  35. 

Bonaparte,  Jerome,  description  of, 
149 ;  reported  engaged  to  marry 
Miss  Patterson,  152;  match  re 
ported  broken  off,  154;  intended 
visit  to  Canadian  border,  155 ; 
marries  Miss  Patterson,  160 ;  ar 
rives  in  New  York,  162  ;  embarks 
on  French  frigate  Didon,  167; 
efforts  made  by  British  authori 
ties  to  capture  him,  170;  his  ser 
vants  sent  to  France  in  brig 
Rolla,  175 ;  goes  to  Ballston,  181 ; 
unsuccessful  efforts  to  elude  Brit 
ish  cruisers,  193,  194;  receives 
orders  to  return  to  France  with 
out  his  wife,  195;  sails  for  Eu 
rope  in  American  ship  Erin,  211- 
212;  in  command  of  ship  Veteran 
abandons  squadron  commanded 
by  Willaumez,  243-244,  248. 

Bond,  Phineas,  British  Consul  at 
Philadelphia,  correspondence 
with,  48,  52,  54,  56,  60,  63,  71,  115. 
294. 

Boston,  H.  M.  Ship,  96, 100,  125, 129, 
164,  167,  171,  173,  174,  179. 

Boston,  U.  S.  Ship,  125,  148. 

27* 


Bouchette,  Joseph,  Surveyor-Gen 
eral  of  Canada,  appointed  British 
Surveyor  under  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  366,  371,  377 ;  to  act  only 
under  direction  of  the  commission 
under  the  fifth  article,  388  ;  incom 
petence  of,  395,  399,  400,  401 ;  dis 
charged,  402. 

Boundary  Question  with  Great  Brit 
ain^,  68,353-355, 357-365,405-409. 

Bradley,  Capt.  William,  R.  N.,  154, 
163;  commands  British  squadron 
blockading  New  York,  165-182, 
185,  189-191,  194-196;  suffers 
French  frigates  to  escape,  197- 
199 ;  removed  from  command  by 
British  Government  and  imme 
diately  promoted,  200. 

Bradshaw,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  269,  270. 

Bramble,  H.  M.  Ship,  308,  309. 

Bramston,  William,  157. 

Bromley,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  274. 

Broughton,  Charles  R.,  correspon 
dence  with,  98,  107,  136,  226. 

Burr,  Aaron,  177,  207,  251,  302. 

Busy,  H.  M.  Ship,  205,  210. 

Byam,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  211,  263. 

CALVERT,  EDWARD,  317,  348. 

Cambrian,  H.  M.  Ship,  154,  162,  163, 
166-169,  175,  178, 179, 181, 188, 195, 
196,  201,  202,  204-209,  226,  230,  231, 
235-236,  238. 

Campobello  Island,  title  to,  288,  358, 
360;  decided  to  belong  to  Great 
Britain,  394. 

Canning,  George,  256,  264,  268. 

Caprion,  Gideon,  wrongfully  im 
pressed,  298. 

Captures  of  American  merchant  ves 
sels  by  British  ships  of  war,  118- 
120,  134,  183,  187,  227. 

Carleton,  Governor  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  66,  69,  70,  114. 

Carpenter,  Thomas,  124. 

Cartel  for  regulating  exchanges  of 
prisoners,  and  negotiations  con 
cerning,  314,  324,  325,  329,  330,  339, 
340. 

Carysfort,  H.  M.  Ship,  23. 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  313,  319,  320; 
correspondence  with,  336,  365, 
369,  370,  371,  375,  378,  380,  386, 
388,  400. 

Cazeaux,  French  Consul  at  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H.,  intrigues  with  Ca 
nadians,  263,  264,  270. 


422 


INDEX 


Certificates  of  Protection  furnished 
to  British  seamen  in  American 
ships,  210,  218,  219,  297. 

Chamber  of  Commerce,  action  of, 
concerning  capture  of  American 
merchant  ships,  119. 

Chandler,  Eufus,  34. 

Chauncey,  Isaac,  Capt.,  U.  S.  N., 
216,  217. 

Cheetham,  James,  130,  189. 

Chesapeake,  U.  S.  Ship,  254,  264, 
266,  267,  268,  308. 

Chichester,  H.  M.  Ship,  244. 

Chipman,  Ward,  52 ;  British  agent  in 
regard  to  St.  Croix  Eiver,  52 ;  his 
abilities,  67;  proposes  survey  of 
north  line  from  the  source  of  the 
St.  Croix,  68,  70  ;  examines  Island 
of  St.  Croix,  75 ;  advises  adoption 
of  Eiver  Chiputneticook  as  part  of 
Northeast  Boundary,  87-89;  his 
capacity,  191 ;  views  of  in  respect 
to  Moose  Island,  280;  British 
agent  before  the  Commissioners 
under  the  fourth  and  fifth  articles 
of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  359,  366, 
371,  374,  376,  377,  378;  his  views 
as  to  probable  result  of  submitting 
boundary  question  to  arbitration 
by  a  friendly  sovereign,  392 ;  his 
talents  and  industry,  395;  corre 
spondence  with,  395,  398,  402. 

Chiputneticook  Eiver,  45,  68,  70,  81 ; 
source  of,  to  be  adopted  as  source 
of  the  St.  Croix,  88 ;  Ho  well's  ar 
gument  concerning,  91 ;  finally 
adopted  by  Commissioners  as 
Eiver  St.  Croix,  92,  93. 

Clarkson,  David,  11,  12,  15. 

Cleopatra,  H.  M.  Ship,  129. 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  introduces  resolu 
tion  in  State  Senate  adverse  to 
claims  of  dower  by  widows  of  per 
sons  attainted  of  treason,  139 ;  com 
ments  on  his  course,  140 ;  ap 
pointed  Mayor  of  New  York,  153  ; 
correspondence  with,  157, 163,  223, 
233,  236 ;  name  mentioned  as  Vice- 
President,  307. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  certificate  from, 
26. 

Cochrane.  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Alex 
ander,  206,  244,  247,  259,  274,  277, 
278,  290,  317,  347,  348,  350,  351, 
352. 

Cockburn,  Captain  George,  E.  N., 
153,  154,  156,  ]57. 


Coin  in  New  York  banks,  difficulty 
of  procuring  Spanish  dollars,  156, 
187  ;  quality  of  gold,  208,  209. 

Golden,  Cadwallader  (Lt.-Gov.),  12, 
16,  18,  37. 

Colden,  Cadwallader  D.,  113;  em 
ployed  as  attorney  for  Margaret 
De  Lancev,  121-123,  138-143. 

Coldenham/N.  Y.,  18. 

Colibri,  H.  M.  Ship,  257,  305,  312. 

Columbine,  H.  M.  Ship,  269,  270. 

Commissions  under  Jay's  Treaty, 
variations  in  terms  of,  57,  72,  77, 
78,  86. 

Compton,  Captain,  E.  N.,  183. 

Connecticut  Eiver,  northwestern- 
most  head  of,  364,  365,  375,  380, 
384,  407. 

Constellation,  U.  S.  Ship,  101. 

Constitution,  U.  S.  Ship,  295,  312. 

Cook,  Thomas,  wrongfully  im 
pressed,  155. 

Cooper,  Dr.  Myles  (President  of 
King's  College,  N.  Y.),  12,  15. 

Cornbury,  Lord,  3,  4. 

Cox  and  Greenwood,  army  agents  in 
London,  104 ;  purchase  a  commis 
sion  for  De  Lancey  Barclay,  105. 

Coxe,  Daniel,  136. 

Craig,  Gen.  Sir  James,  270,  275,  288  ; 
unjustifiable  conduct  in  corre 
sponding  with  Henry,  306. 

Croke,  Alexander,  Judge  of  the  Ad 
miralty  Court  in  Halifax,  134,  242, 
289. 

Cruger,  John  Harris,  13,  22. 

Cybele,  French  Frigate,  arrives  at 
New  York,  159 ;  description  of, 
160;  watched  by  British  naval 
force,  161-163,  167,  175,  176  ;  plans 
to  intercept  when  leaving  New 
York,  179,  188,  191,  192,  195,  196; 
escapes  through  Long  Island 
Sound,  197-199 ;  arrives  safely  in 
France,  201 ;  arrives  at  Norfolk 
disabled,  243,  244. 

DECREES  OF  NAPOLEON  restricting 

neutral  trade,  253,  256. 
Deer  Island,  Passamaquoddy  Bay, 

360. 

De  Lancey,  family  of,  17. 
De  Lancey,  Alice  (wife  of  Ealph  Iz- 

ard),  127,  146. 
De    Lancey,   Anne   (wife   of    John 

Cox),  61. 
De  Lancey,  Col.  James,  raises  Tory 


INDEX 


423 


regiment,  17  ;  settles  in  Nova  Sco 
tia,  25. 

De  Lancey,  James,  loyalist  agent  in 
England,  17:  forfeited  estate  of. 
109. 

De  Lancey,  Jane,  marries  John 
Watts,  Jr.,  16. 

De  Lancey,  Margaret,  widow  of 
James,  109 ;  claim  of  dower  in  prop 
erty  in  New  York,  110-112,  121- 
123,  137-143,  209. 

De  Lancey,  General  Oliver,  17,  27, 
135. 

De  Lancey,  Peter  (of  Westchester), 
16. 

De  Lancey,  Stephen,  marries  Cor 
nelia  Barclay,  9 ;  Colonel  in  Brit 
ish  service,  17. 

De  Lancey,  Susan,  marries  Thomas 
Barclay,  16. 

De  Lancey,  Sir  William  Howe,  killed 
at  Waterloo,  356. 

Do  Monts,  Sieur,  occupation  of  Isl 
and  of  St.  Croix  by,  59,  65. 

Desertion  of  British  seamen,  extent 
of,  in  1799,  100  ;  deserters  enlisted 
inU.  S.  S.  Constellation,  101;  pro 
posed  law  to  arrest  deserters  in 
New  York,  106-109;  desertion 
from  H.  M.  S.  Phaeton,  153  ;  Brit 
ish  seamen  in  American  frigates, 
179,  216  ;  desertion  from  British 
cutter,  220 ;  proclamation  offering 
pardon  to  deserters  returning  to 
duty,  267;  few  British  seamen 
willing  to  enlist  in  Royal  Navy, 
269,  274 ;  loss  of  men  from  H.  M.  S. 
Colibri,  305 ;  many  British  seamen, 
most  of  them  deserters,  on  Ameri 
can  frigates,  337. 

Detroit,  Hull's  surrender  at,  312. 

Didon,  French  Frigate,  arrives  at 
New  York,  159;  description  of, 
160 ;  watched  by  British  naval 
force,  161-163, 167,  175, 176;  plans 
to  intercept  when  leaving  New 
York,  179-181,  188,  191,  192,  195, 
196 ;  escapes  through  Long  Island 
Sound,  197-199 ;  arrives  safely  in 
France,  201. 

Diggio,  John,  wrongfully  impressed, 
295,  297. 

Douglass,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  100, 125, 158, 
167,  171,  174,  178,  206. 

Dower  claimed  by  widows  of  per 
sons  attainted  of  treason,  103, 110- 
112,  121-123,  137-143. 


Draeyer,  Andries,  6. 

Draeyer,  Anna  Dorothea,  marries 
Rev.  Thomas  Barclay,  6. 

Driver,  H.  M.  Ship,  162,  163,  166, 
167, 174, 178,  206,  228,  229,  230,  231. 

Duckworth,  Admiral,  126,  131,  151. 

Dutch  Reformed  ministers  at  Al 
bany,  4,  5. 

Dwyer,  Lieutenant  (H.  M.  Navy), 
126-128. 

Eastern  States,  aversion  of,  to  war 
with  Great  Britain,  265,  268,  283, 
298,  335. 

Ellicott,  Andrew,  American  Sur 
veyor  under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
384,  385,  386,  387,  397,  401. 

Embargo  on  shipping  in  U.  S.  ports, 
255,  271,  272,  277,  281,  283,  284. 

Emigration  from  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  129 ;  encouraged  by  revo 
lutionary  societies  in  America, 
130. 

EOLE,  French  line-of-battle  ship,248. 

Erin,  American  Ship,  211,  212. 

Erskine,  David,  British  Minister  at 
Washington,  249,  256;  correspon 
dence  with,  259,  261,  266,  273,  275, 
278,  286,  288,  290. 

Essex,  U.  S.  Ship,  316. 

Eugenia,  American  Ship,  seized  by 
H.  M.  S.  Leander  and  recaptured 
by  Americans  off  New  London, 
183-187,  190. 

Euridice,  H.  M.  Ship,  290. 

FAIRLIE,  JAMES,  210. 

Faustina,  Privateer,  115. 

Fenwick,  Lieut.,  31. 

Findlayson,  Mr.,  40. 

Fingal,  American  Ship,  318,  352. 

Foster,  Augustus  J.,  British  Minis 
ter  at  Washington,  correspon 
dence  with,  300,  301,  306,  307,  309, 
310 ;  returns  to  England  in  July, 
1812,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
257,  312. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  correspondence 
with,  244,  247. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  advocates 
River  St.  Croix  as  boundary,  70; 
also  contends  for  River  St.  John, 
75. 

Franklin,  William,  69,  70. 

Fraser,  Simon,  marries  Maria  Bar 
clay,  97. 

Fuller,  Brigadier-General,  131. 


424 


INDEX 


GALLATIN,  ALBERT,  156,  189,  190, 
267,  268,  289,  407. 

Genesagarumsis,  Lake,  87,  91. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  319,  353-355. 

Goldsmith,  Lewis,  author  of  A  Se 
cret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of  Bo 
naparte,  293,  294. 

Goulburn,  Henry,  Under-Secretary 
of  the  Colonies,  378. 

Grand  Menan,  Island  of,  title  to, 
357,  360,  371,  373,  390,  392;  de 
cided  to  belong  to  Great  Britain, 
394;  value  of,  395. 

Greenwood.  (See  Cox  and  Green 
wood.) 

Grenville,  Lord,  correspondence 
with,  46,  47,  56,  64,  72,  73,  79,  90, 
97,  99,  107,  108,  115,  118. 

Guerriere,  H.  M.  Ship,  295,  297,  298, 
312. 

Gun  boats  prepared  for  service,  265. 

Gunpowder,  exportation  of,  to  the 
West  Indies,  151. 


HAGERSTOWN,  Col.  Barclay  directed 
to  remove  to,  345,  346 ;  permitted 
to  leave,  349. 

Haley,  Nathan,  150,  151. 

Hall,  Basil,  203,  212,  269,  356. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  retained  as 
counsel  for  Margaret  De  Lancey, 
123 ;  death  of,  attachment  to 
British  Government,  177;  fee 
charged  Mrs.  De  Lancey,  209. 

Hamilton,  Col.,  British  Consul  at 
Norfolk,  125,  152,  244,  264,  266. 

Hamilton,  Jonas,  an  American  citi 
zen  wrongfully  impressed,  132. 

Hamilton,  William  Richard,  Under 
secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  293,  294,  298,  306,  318,  319. 

Hammond,  George,  correspondence 
with,  50,  63,  69,  150,  199,  211. 

Hardy,  Capt.  Sir  Thomas,  R.  N., 
328. 

Harison,  Richard,  13,  109,  111-113, 
123,  153,  249. 

Harrowby,  Lord,  176,  187,  200. 

Hartley,  David,  67,  69,  70. 

Hartshorne,  Lawrence,  113,  260, 
298. 

Hartshorne  and  Boggs,  95. 

Hassler,  Ferdinand  R.,  402, 403,  404. 

Hawkes,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  290. 

Hawkesbury,  Lord,  correspondence 
with,  123,  124,  128,  129,  143,  149 ; 


refers  questions  of  boundary  to 
Col.  Barclay,  145,  280,  391. 

Highlands  forming  part  of  North 
east  Boundary,  44,  360,  362,  374, 
375,  379,  380,  400,  406,  408. 

Hillyar,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  316. 

Hislop,  General,  Governor  of  Trini 
dad,  276. 

Holmes,  John,  American  Commis 
sioner  under  the  fourth  article  of 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  356,  376  ;  his 
courtesy  and  impartiality,  388, 
389. 

Hotham,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  208,  209. 

Howell,  David,  Commissioner  under 
Jay's  Treaty,  46,  48 ;  informal 
meeting  with  Col.  Barclay,  49-51 ; 
his  arguments  concerning  River 
St.  Croix,  91-93. 

Howick,  Lord,  250,  251,  263. 

Humphreys,  Capt.,  R.N.,  268. 

Hunter,  General  Peter,  136,  155. 

IMPETUEUX,  French  Frigate,  burned 
by  the  British  on  the  Virginia 
coast,  248. 

Impressment  of  American  seamen, 
132,  147;  applications  for  release, 
133, 154  ;  delicacy  of  British  naval 
officers  with  respect  to,  178 ;  more 
applications  for  release,  183,  191 ; 
orders  of  the  Admiralty  against, 
210  ;  difficulty  in  dealing  with  the 
subject,  261 ;  peculiarly  unfortu 
nate  in  1811,  295,  296. 

Indian,  H.  M.  Ship,  205. 

Indians.     (See  Mohawk.) 

Innes,  Alexander,  certificate  from, 
27. 

Izard,  Ralph,  127. 

JACKSON,  FRANCIS  JAMES,  British 
Minister  at  Washington,  291. 

James  Cropper,  American  Ship,  410. 

James  Thompson,  American  Ship, 
410. 

Jay,  John,  13,  15 ;  negotiates  treaty 
with  England,  44;  testimony  as  to 
map  used  at  Paris  in  fixing  North 
east  Boundary,  66,  73,  74. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  97,  137,  207,  252, 
254,  255,  261,  283,  292. 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  40,  117. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Samuel,  6,  11. 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  7. 

Juhel,  John,  152,  187. 


INDEX 


425 


KEITH,  GEORGE,  3. 

Kempe,  Grace,  claim  of  dower  to 
lands  in  New  York,  102,  137,  141, 
142. 

Kempe,  John  Tabor,  103. 

Kent,  Duke  of,  104,  133. 

King,  Rufus,  U.  S.  Minister  in  Lon 
don,  79,  145,  280,  281,  353,  391. 

King's  College,  charter  of,  9 ;  course 
of  study,  12 ;  political  tendencies. 
13. 

Knox,  General  Henry,  48,  51. 

LA  DILIGENTE,  French  Privateer. 
299. 

Lafney,  Rear-Admiral  Sir  Francis, 
296,  299. 

Lake  of  the  Woods,  92,  354. 

Laurie,  Capt.  Sir  Robert.  R.  N.,  154, 
269,  272. 

Leander,  American  Ship,  262. 

Leander,  H.  M.  Ship,  161,  181,  185, 
183,  187,  188,  195,  196,  201,  202, 
203-207 ;  shot  from,  kills  an  Amer 
ican  citizen,  230 ;  excitement  in 
New  York  in  consequence,  231- 
238 ;  sails  for  Halifax,  238. 

Leopard,  H.  M.  Ship,  212.  254,  264, 
266,  267,  268. 

Lilly,  H.  M.  Ship,  129,  148, 152 ;  cap 
tured  by  French  privateer,  183. 

Line  of  forty-five  degrees  north  lat 
itude,  364,  380,  385,  386,  397,  401 ; 
discovered  to  have  been  erro 
neously  run  in  1766,  364,  402-404, 
407 ;  old  line  adopted  as  boundarv 
by  treaty  of  1842,  409. 

Lispenard,  Leonard,  11,  12,  15. 

Listen,  Robert,  British  Minister  in 
Washington,  47,  49,  72,  76,  78,  79, 
83,  86 ;  consents  to  adoption  of 
River  Chiputneticook  as  part  of 
Northeast  Boundary,  89. 

Little  Belt,  H.  M.  Ship,  295. 

Little  Cornelia,  American  Ship, 
seized  by  H.  M.  S.  Leander  and 
retaken  by  her  own  crew,  187, 190. 

Liverpool,  Lord.  (See  Hawkesbury. ) 

Livingston,  Brockholst,  138. 

Livingston,  Schuyler,  married  to 
Eliza  Barclay,  61 ;  dies  in  1809, 
258. 

Livingston,  William,  10. 

Lottery  Tickets,  purchases  of,  108. 

Loyalists,  Commissioners  for  set 
tling  claims  of,  21,  36-38. 

Ludlow,  Gabriel  V.,  124. 


Lyall,  Captain,  R.  N.,  174,  175,  178. 

MCKENZIE,  JOHN,  214. 

Macomb,  Alexander,  226. 

Madison,  James,  213,  219,  224,  248, 
252,  259,  265,  284,  308. 

Magaguadavic  River,  claimed  as  the 
true  St.  Croix,  45,  58,  65,  68,  70, 
75  ;  claim  disproved,  81. 

Manhattan,  American  Ship,  210, 
211,  218. 

Maroons,  settlement  of,  in  Nova 
Scotia,  134,  135. 

Mason,  George,  of  GunstonHall,  314. 

Mason,  Gen.  John,  Commissary- 
General  of  prisoners,  314-317, 325; 
negotiations  with,  for  exchange  of 
prisoners,  326,  328,  329,  330,  333, 
334, 335;  correspondence  with,  338, 
345,  347,  348,  349,  350,  351. 

Mason,  John  M.  (Mason  and  Slidell), 
315. 

Melampus,  H.  M.  Ship,  248,  267,  268, 
290. 

Merry,  Anthony,  British  Minister  at 
Washington,  153 ;  correspondence 
with,  155,  158,  159,  161,  162,  164, 
168,  172,  177,  178,  183,  184,  187, 
188,  192,  193,  201,  208,  209,  213, 
218,  221,  223,  224,  225,  230,  232, 
234,  237,  240,  245,  247,  248  ;  returns 
to  England,  249. 

Milan  Decree,  253. 

Milan,  H.  M.  Ship,  269. 

Militia,  numbers  and  equipment  of 
in  1809,  in  the  Eastern  States,  291- 
293. 

Missiessy,  Admiral,  214,  221. 

Mitchell,  Vice-Admiral,  correspon 
dence  with,  148,  151,  152,  154,  158, 
159,  162,  166,  174,  181,  185,  190, 
195,  198,  200,  214,  220,  221,  222, 
227,  228. 

Mohawk  Indians,  religious  teaching 
among,  in  1730,  4,  5;  between 
1735  and  1745,  6-8. 

Monroe,  James,  200,  213,  228,  252, 
254,  265,  268;  Barclay's  inter 
views  with,  325,  327,  328 ;  corre 
spondence  with,  332,  341,  342,  349; 
efforts  of,  to  settle  Northeast 
Boundary,  354,  391 ;  declaration  of, 
as  to  principles  to  be  observed  in 
carrying  into  execution  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent,  370. 

Montgomery,  Fort,  Storming  of,  22. 

Moore,  Rev.  Thorowgood,  4. 


426 


INDEX 


Moore,  William  Sturge,  32. 

Moose  Island,  title  to,  279-281,  283, 
285-288,  355,  360,  393 ;  decided  to 
belong  to  the  United  States,  394. 

Morier,  John  Philip,  British  Charge 
d' Affaires  at  Washington,  293,  294. 

Mulgrave,  Lord,  212,  228. 

Mutine,  French  Brig,  125,  128. 

NAIRNE,  CAPT.,  K.  N.,  230. 

Neilson,  William,  President  of 
Marine  Insurance  Co.,  158,  164, 
189,  190,  192. 

Netherlands,  King  of  the,  arbitrator 
under  treaty  of  1827,  his  award, 
408, 409. 

Neutral  rights,  181,  189,  191,  203, 
227,  242,  252-254,  306. 

Newport,  E.  I.,  its  commercial  and 
political  importance,  141. 

New  York,  expenses  of  living  in, 
40 ;  Thomas  Barclay  appointed 
British  Consul  in,  95  ;  house  rent, 
96;  expenses  of  living  in,  101; 
growth  of,  103;  blockade  of,  in 
1804,  203;  excitement  in,  conse 
quent  on  killing  of  an  American 
citizen  by  H.  M.  S.  Leander,  231- 
239;  extension  and  improvement 
of,  285. 

Non-importation  Acts,  227,  229,  252. 

Non-intercourse  Law,  255-257,  289. 

Nova  Scotia,  Col.  Thomas  Barclay 
emigrates  to,  28  ;  value  of  land  in, 
32,  33  ;  state  of  education  in,  41 ; 
communications  with  Great  Brit 
ain,  42 ;  debt  of,  63 ;  definitions  of 
boundary  of,  91,  92 ;  charming 
climate  of,  103. 

Nova  Scotia,  ancient  boundaries  of, 
as  described  in  Grant  to  Sir  Wil 
liam  Alexander,  etc.,  367.  371-374, 
389-391. 

Nova  Scotia,  northwest  angle  of,  44, 
360,  379,  401,  406,  409. 

OGILVY,  JOHN,  appointed  British 
Commissioner  under  the  sixth  and 
seventh  articles  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  356,  381,  387. 

Orde,  Vice-Admiral  Sir  John,  212. 

Orders  in  Council,  253,  256, 290,  312. 

PAINE,  THOMAS,  151. 

Parker,  Vice-Admiral,  115,  125,  128. 

Parrsborough,  Nova  Scotia,  32,  33. 


Parsons,  W.  B.,  marries  Ann  Bar 
clay,  365. 

Pashell,  Capt.,  E.  N.,  297,  298. 

Passamaquoddy,  islands  in  the  Bay 
of,  surveyed,  65,  75 ;  ownership  of 
in  dispute,  82;  effect  of  decision 
in  regard  to  Eiver  St.  Croix,  upon 
title  to,  93;  negotiations  in  1802 
respecting,  145,  353 ;  subsequent 
discussion  concerning,  279-281, 
285-288 ;  title  to  be  determined  by 
Commissioners  under  the  fourth 
article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
357,  366,  371 ;  discussion  of  Com 
missioners  concerning,  389-394 ; 
decision  of  Commissioners,  394. 

Patriot,  French  line-of-battle  ship, 
243,  244. 

Patterson,  Elizabeth  (of  Baltimore), 
reported  engaged  to  Jerome  Bona 
parte,  152 ;  married  to  him,  160  ; 
Gen.  Armstrong  declines  taking 
her  to  France,  194 ;  birth  of  her 
child  and  return  to  America,  211. 

Peacock,  H.  M.  Ship,  332,  333. 

Pearce,  John,  an  American  seaman 
killed  by  a  shot  from  H.  M.  Ship 
Leander,  230 ;  excitement  in  New 
York  in  consequence,  231-239,  241. 

Perth  Amboy,  John  Barclay  settles 
at,  2,  3 ;  Col.  Thomas  Barclay  di 
rected  to  embark  from,  349,  350, 
352. 

Phaeton,  H.  M.  Ship,  153,  154,  157. 

Pheasant,  H.  M.  Ship,  129. 

Philipse,  Frederick,  13. 

Philipse,  Susannah,  marries  Col. 
Beverley  Eobinson,  19 ;  attainted 
of  treason,  137. 

Pichon,  Louis  Andre,  French  Charge* 
d7 Affaires,  125 ;  opposes  marriage 
of  Jerome  Bonaparte,  152;  de 
spatches  to,  intercepted,  195. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  48,  77,  78,  79, 
80,  86,  99. 

Pilots  of  New  York,  French  sympa 
thizers,  148  ;  prohibited  from  tak 
ing  British  frigates  to  sea  until 
after  French  ships  had  sailed,  165, 
166, 169, 174,  182  ;  medium  of  com 
munication  with  seamen  in  the 
British  frigates  claiming  to  be 
Americans,  222 ;  are  all  Demo 
crats,  247 ;  decline  to  bring  letters 
from  British  men-of-war,  269. 

Pinkney,  William,  U.  S.  Minister  in 
England,  252, 254, 257, 275, 354, 391, 


INDEX 


427 


Pitt,  British  Ship,  seamen  impressed 
from,  in  port  of  New  York,  165-174, 
182,  191. 

Porter,  Peter  B.,  American  Commis 
sioner  under  the  sixth  and  seventh 
articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
357,  381,  387. 

Poursuivant,  French  Frigate,  177. 
(See  President.) 

President,  French  Frigate,  194,  209. 
(See  Poursuivant.) 

President,  U.  S.  Ship,  295. 

Prevost,  General  Sir  George,  302, 304, 
326,  330,  331. 

Prisoners  of  War,  numbers  of,  313  ; 
treatment  of,  regulated  by  cartel, 
314;  instructions  to  Col.  Barclay 
concerning  care  of,  320-324;  en 
ticed  to  enter  the  service  of  the  U. 
S.,  326;  British  subjects  residing 
in  the  U.  S.  not  considered  as,  331. 

Privateers,  French,  126,  128,  158, 
164,  183,  193,  221,  222,  223,  224, 
277,  299,  300,  301. 

Provincial  Light  Infantry,  24,  28. 

EAMBOUILLET  DECREE,  256. 

Rawdon,  Lord,  24 ;  certificate  from, 
26. 

Restigouche,  River,  68,  70,  361,  362, 
396,  398. 

Revenge,  U.  S.  Schooner,  272. 

Revolutionnaire,  H.  M.  Ship,  194, 
205,  207. 

Rey,  Antoine  Gabriel  Venance, 
French  Consul-General  in  New 
York,  160,  161. 

Robertson,  Gilbert,  appointed  agent 
for  prisoners  of  war  to  succeed 
Col.  Barclay,  344;  U.  S.  Gov 
ernment  declines  receiving,  350, 
351,  352. 

Robinson,  Col.  Beverley,  raises 
Loyal  American  Regiment,  19; 
testimony  as  to  Thomas  Barclay's 
services,  27 ;  his  widow's  claim  of 
dower,  137. 

Robinson,  Beverley,  Jr.,  marries 
Anna  Dorothea  Barclay,  9 ;  Lieut. - 
Colonel  of  Loyal  American  Regi 
ment,  19. 

Robinson.  Beverley  (grandson  of 
Col.  Robinson),  112. 

Rock  Harbor,  Barclay's  villa,  410. 

Rodgers,  Commodore,  U.  S.  N.,  275. 

Roosevelt,  Helena,  6. 

Rose,  George  Henry,  272,  275. 


Rouse's  Point,  forts  at,  found  to  be 
on  British  territory,  364,  403,  404  ; 
award  of  King  of  the  Netherlands 
concerning,  409 ;  title  confirmed 
in  the  U.  S.  by  treaty  of  1842,  409. 

Russell,  Jonathan,  313. 

Rutgers,  Anthony,  8. 

Rutgers,  Mary,  marries  Rev.  Henry 
Barclay,  8. 

ST.  CROIX,  ISLAND  OF,  New  Bruns 
wick,  59,  65 ;  remains  of  French 
settlement  on,  75,  76. 

St.  Croix,  River,  part  of  boundary 
line,  44 ;  dispute  as  to,  45 ;  origi 
nated  by  James  Sullivan,  53,  54 ; 
preliminary  meeting  of  Commis 
sioners  in  regard  to,  46,  56-58; 
first  full  meeting,  64-66 ;  second 
meeting,  73-75 ;  third  meeting,  87 ; 
decision  to  adopt  the  Schoodic  or 
Chiputneticook  as  the  true  river, 
88;  unanimous  decision  of  Com 
missioners  in  regard  to,  90 ;  north 
line  from  source  of,  surveyed,  361, 
396,  400. 

St.  Croix,  source  of  River,  difficulty 
of  fixing,  45 ;  discussion  as  to,  67 ; 
north  line  from,  to  be  surveyed, 
69,  70 ;  mode  of  marking  source, 
79,  81,  83-86;  intersection  of  north 
line  from  source  with  River  St. 
John,  88  ;  divergent  views  of  Com 
missioners  as  to  mode  of  ascer 
taining  true  source,  91-93. 

St.  Croix,  West  India  Island,  131. 

St.  George's  Church,  9. 

St.  Helens,  Lord,  67,  74. 

St.  John,  River,  contended  for  as 
American  boundary  by  Jay  and 
Franklin,  75 ;  where  intersected 
by  north  line  from  the  source  of 
the  St.  Croix,  88,  93,  361,  362. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Albany,  founded 
1714,  Rev.  Thomas  Barclay  being 
first  rector  of,  5 ;  Rev.  Henry  Bar 
clay  third  rector  of  (1737-1746),  7. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Perth  Amboy,  3. 

St.  Regis,  meeting  of  Commissioners 
under  Treaty  of  Ghent  at,  383,  384, 
385,  386,  387,  397,  402. 

Sawyer,  Rear-Admiral,  297,  308. 

Schenectady,  condition  of,  in  1710, 
4,  5. 

Schoodic,  River,  45,  54,  58,  65,  81 ; 
decided  to  be  the  true  St.  Croix, 
87,  91. 


428 


INDEX 


Seamen,  American.  (See  Impress 
ment.) 

Seamen,  British.    (See  Desertion.) 

Seeker,  Archbishop,  10. 

Semillante,  French  Frigate,  125, 129, 
182. 

Serpent,  H.  M.  Brig,  126. 

Seymour,  Vice-Admiral  Lord  Hugh, 

Sherbrooke,  Sir  John  C.,  303. 

Simpson,  Capt.,  R.  N.,  229. 

Skene,  Captain,  E.  N.,  181,  183, 185, 

187,  189,  190,  195,  202. 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 

Gospel,  3,  4,  6,  8. 
Society  Library,  New  York,  9. 
Southern  States  desirous  of  war  with 

Great  Britain,  265. 
Spook,  James,  wrongfully!impressed, 

Statira,  H.  M.  Ship,  272,  273,  274, 

275. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter  Gerard,  marries 

Susan  Barclay,  148. 
Sullivan,  James,  53;    agent  of  the 

U.  S.  in  arbitration  as  to  St.  Croix 

Eiver,  53,  54,  60,  83. 

TEMPLE,  SIB  JOHN,  Consul-General 
in  New  York  (1785-1798),  95,  96, 
126. 

Thomas,  John,  master  of  British  brig 
Fox,  indicted  on  charge  of  murder, 
245,  248. 

Thomson,  Capt.  John,  E.  N.,  305. 

Thornton,  Edward,  British  Secretary 
of  Legation,  80, 127,  152,  168. 

Tiarks,  Dr.  T.  L.,  British  Surveyor 
under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  385, 
386,  387,  397,  401,  402. 

Tottenham,  British  Ship,  brought  to 
New  York  as  prize  to  a  French 
privateer,  300,  301,  306. 

Transport  Board,  313,  318;  corre 
spondence  with,  320,  324,  330,  333, 
335,  339,  343,  344. 

Treaty  of  1783  between  the  U.  S. 
and  England,  43,  44,  66,  74,  362, 
363,  371,  397. 

Treaty  of  1794  (Jay's  Treaty),  pro 
visions  of,  44 ;  Commissioners  un 
der  fifth  article  of,  46 ;  views  of 
Commissioners  respecting  title  to 
Moose  Island,  278-281,  285-288. 

Treaty  of  _  1798  explanatory  of  the 
fifth  article  of  Jay's  Treaty,  ne 
gotiation  of,  79-85 ;  terms  of,  86. 


Treaty  (unratified)  of  1806,  negoti 
ated  by  Monroe  and  Pinkney,  252, 
254,  261. 

Treaty  of  Ghent,  318 ;  provisions  of, 
353-355. 

Treaty  of  Ghent,  commission  under 
fourth  article  of,  355 ;  first  meet 
ing  of,  357,  376 ;  second  meeting 
at  Boston,  arguments  of  agents, 
379 ;  adjourn  to  meet  at  Boston, 
380  ;  third  meeting,  388  ;  replies 
of  agents  submitted,  389  ;  private 
discussion  between  Commission 
ers,  389-394;  agreement  of  Com 
missioners,  394 ;  decision  executed 
on  paper,  394 ;  subsequently  en 
grossed  on  parchment,  395,  399. 

Treaty  of  Ghent,  commission  under 
fifth  article  of,  355 ;  first  meeting 
of,  361,  376;  second  meeting  at 
Boston,  instructions  for  surveyors, 
379,  380 ;  meetings  at  Burlington, 
Montreal  and  St.  Eegis,  402; 
agreement  of  Commissioners  hope 
less,  405 ;  meetings  at  New  York 
and  Boston,  405 ;  meeting  at  New 
York  in  1821,  arguments  of  agents, 
406 ;  Commissioners  file  separate 
reports,  407. 

Treaty  of  Ghent,  commission  under 
sixth  and  seventh  articles  of,  355  ; 
form  of  journal  of,  381 ;  to  meet  with 
Commissioners  under  the  fifth  ar 
ticle  of  the  treaty,  383. 

Treaty  of  1827  for  submission  of 
Northeast  Boundary  question  to  a 
friendly  sovereign,  407,  408. 

Treaty  of  1842  (Webster- Ash  bur 
ton),  360,  409. 

Tripoli,  war  with,  123. 

Tryon,  Governor,  15,  23. 

Turner,  John,  61. 

UNIACKE,  EGBERT  JOHN,  35,  329. 

VALEUREUX,  French  Frigate,  248, 
250. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Philip,  22. 

Van  Ness,  Cornelius  P.,  American 
Commissioner  under  the  fifth  ar 
ticle  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  357, 
376,  377,  383,  384,  385,  396,  399. 

Van  Schaick,  Cornelia,  marries  John 
Barclay,  2. 

Van  Schaick,  Goosen  Gerritse,  6. 

Verplanck's  Point,  fortifications  at, 
23,  24. 


INDEX 


429 


Vesey,  Rev.  William,  7. 
Veteran,  French  Frigate,  244. 
Viper,  U.  S.  Ship,  332. 


WALKILL,  Barclay's  farm  at,  18,  22, 

War  with  Great  Britain  declared 
June  18,  1812,  257 ;  discussions  in 
Congress  concerning,  307,  309,  310. 

Warren,  Admiral  Sir  John  Borlase, 
248,  278,  281,  282,  314,  320,  326,  327, 
328,  329,  331,  333,  334. 

Wasp,  U.  S.  Ship,  276. 

Waterloo,  Battle  of,  356. 

Watson,  Brook,  20,  21,  36,  61. 

Watson,  Lt.-CoL,  24. 

Watts,  John,  Sr.,  13. 

Watts,  John,  Jr.,  13,  16,  31,  39. 


Watts,  Mary  (wife  of  Sir  John  John 
son),  117. 

Watts,  Stephen,  40. 

Webster,  Col.  James,  23. 

Wellesley,  Marquis  of,  293,  294,  298. 

Wentworth,  Sir  John,  Governor  of 
Nova  Scotia,  61,  82,  105, 113,  134. 

Whitby,  Capt.  Henry,  E.  N.,  230,  231, 
232,  234,  235,  237-242. 

Whitefoord,  Caleb,  67. 

Willaumez,  Admiral,  243,  244,  247. 

Williams,  Col.  Jonathan,  U.  S.  A., 
225. 

Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia,  25,  28. 

Winslow,  Edward,  25,  64. 

Wood,  John,  130,  135. 

YELLOW  FEVER,  prevalence  of,  in 
New  York,  103,  147,  152,  206,  225. 


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